CHS Recognizes Excellence at Awards Ceremony

The Center For Human Services held its annual recognition luncheon Friday at the Sedalia Country Club, with 17 awards handed out to recipients.

The first award was given to Central Bank of Sedalia for Outstanding Generosity.

“For over 40 years, Central Bank (formerly Third National) has been a supporter of CHS and our mission, both financially and through sweat equity of their team members,” said CHS CEO David Kramer.

“Their President and CEO Greg Ebie started around the same time I did with the Center, and as many folks can attest, you never know what's going to happen when a new leader takes the wheel. We are very happy to see their focus and support of all community services has not changed,” he said.

Annette Weber, site supervisor for the CHS Stockton Head Start Center, presented another Outstanding Generosity Award to Bernard and Therese Karl from Anthony LLC.

The award for Outstanding Employment Opportunities went to the Summer Foods Program. Sue Foster accepted.

The program began in 2010 in a mobile home park, and today there are 12 sites and three reading programs in at the Sedalia 200 Heber Hunt Elementary and Smith-Cotton Junior High school buildings, as well as Pettis County R-12 School in Dresden.

“We do a lot more than just feed kids,” Foster said upon receiving the award. “In the summertime, there is no safety net, so we try to pick that up a little bit and make sure that the kids who come eat with us are taken care of and they're not having any issues. So it's a lot more than just a feeding program. And it's not just me, I'm accepting this award for Summer Foods, but there's a tremendous amount of people who make this work. I mean, we have tremendous volunteers, we have businesses that donate to us to offset our food costs and transportation. We just have a lot going for us. And Sedalia's such a good community, where everybody works together. Everybody pulls together and comes and helps one another. So that's something we all should be proud of,” Foster said.

“We couldn't do it without the CHS folks, they are just part of our group. I mean, they are part of the herd. We treat nobody any different than anybody else,” Foster said, citing respect as one of the key elements in the program. “That's what we do, so this is a wonderful thing for us, we're very appreciative.”

Bureau Chief of Nutrition for the State of Missouri Sarah Walker attended the ceremony to witness Summer Foods receive its award.

Outstanding Community Involvement awards went to the Hayden Liberty Center and Manna Harvest.

Chanisty Lambert, community outreach coordinator for CHS in Sedalia, presented the awards.

The Liberty Center houses the LCAA, a community arts organization that hosts live stage productions, art exhibits and art classes and much more, she said.

Accepting were Ruthie Hart, Doug Bennett and SFCC summer intern Emily Kendal.

Bennet thanked the CHS for providing people when help is needed. “They're working, but they're having a terrific time. It's fun, they pitch in and help any time you ask them. We couldn't do what we do with any kind of efficiency without their help. It really makes a huge difference to us and we really appreciate it.”

Annette Weber, assistant director of CSH's service excellence team, noted that Manna Harvest is a team of local churches, government, businesses and non-profit organizations that come together for the purpose of minimizing poverty. CHS is a partner with Manna Harvest, which provides resources and volunteer opportunities.

Outstanding Personal Growth Awards went to Cobi Steck, Jason Cook, Shaun Strecker, Stanley Bird, Christy Dixon, Comissa Darling, Christopher Woodley and Daniel Salmeron.

Lesa Banks was given special recognition for serving on CHS's Saline County Board. Banks could not attend Friday's ceremony due to her vacation. She has served as treasurer as a volunteer for most of her 35 years on the board.

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The Volunteer Project of the Year Award went to the 50th Annual CHS Golf Tournament Committee. The group was previously known as the Children's Therapy Center Golf Tournament Committee.

The Clay County Board was the recipient of the CHS Community Partner Award.

CHS is in its 11th year of providing service coordination for Clay County, through their contract with the State of Missouri, serving approximately 1300 adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Our relationship with the Developmental Disability Resource Board of Clay County goes well beyond that simple description,” he said.

Sonja Bennett and Stephen Elliott accepted the award for the Clay County Board.

The CHS Lifetime Award went to Ramon Pollard. Mike Hartman accepted the award from Terry Combs on Pollard's behalf.

In the top photo, the Hayden Liberty Center received a CHS Outstanding Community Involvement award June 16 from presenter Chanisty Lambert, CHS Community Outreach Coordinator ( far right). Accepting were (from left) SFCC summer intern Emily Kendall, arts director Ruthie Hart and business director Doug Bennett.