CANCER SOCIETY HONORS VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers were honored for their efforts and new members were elected to the board during the Cape Girardeau County Unit of the American Cancer Society's annual meeting Wednesday night at the Cape Girardeau Country Club.

Officers approved for the coming year were Stephanie Kasten, president; Karen Green, vice president; Cathy Mehner, secretary; and Dr. C. John Ritter, medical adviser.

Unit service awards for leadership and dedication were presented to officers, Jackie Clark, president; Kasten, vice president; Mehner, secretary; Karen Green, treasurer, Ritter, medical adviser; and Julie Tipton, nominating committee chairman. Janet Esicar was also presented an award for her work on the nominating committee. Esicar will serve as nominating committee chairman next year.

Appreciation awards were given to lifetime board members Dr. Edward Campbell and Esther Kirby. Kathy Swan and Art Mattingly were honored with program awards for their work in public issues and advocacy.

"The success of the organization has been due in large part due to our media support in the community," said Clark. Community awards were presented to the Southeast Missourian for the American Cancer Society Cape Unit annual report, Tip Off Magazine for Gala publicity, Zimmer Broadcasting for the Great American Smokeout publicity with special thanks to Cindy Jeeter for volunteering during the event, KCGQ-Q99 for participating in Jail and Bail, and KBSI for Gala publicity and financial support.

Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center were both recognized for their support and cooperation in cancer control programming.

Other awards went to:

Barbara Crowell and Nancy Stricker for their co-chairmanship of the detection and treatment committee and their successful breast cancer awareness project activities. Kathy Blevins, a member of Crowell's committee, was recognized.

Nancy Mattingly was honored for her work as an American Cancer Society volunteer both at the local and state levels. She is currently patient service chairman for the state as well as a Cape Unit board member. Mattingly assists the society in various prevention, detection and patient service programs.

Terri Hirsch and Maggie Friend received programming awards. Both worked on the Great American Smokeout committee, educating youths and adults on the hazards of tobacco.

Awards for successful volunteer fund-raising were presented to Marge Grindstaff and Edna Murphy for memorials in Jackson and Cape Girardeau, respectively; Jail and Bail co-chairman Laura Sparkman, whose committee raised over $17,000 in Cape Girardeau alone; and Gala chairmen Tracy Blattner, Cindy Ford, Kim Thompson and Margaret Lents for Gala '95, which raised an all-time high of $60,000.

Deborah Wooldridge, Gala decorating committee chairman, and Amy Graff, decorating and auction committee member, were spotlighted for their contributing effort.

In addition to honoring fund-raisers, patient service volunteers were highlighted for their one-on-one contact with cancer patients. Volunteers from the Road to Recovery program, James Hayes and Harold Nothdurft, were presented with awards for volunteering to drive cancer patients to and from treatments.

Appreciation awards were also presented to Look Good, Feel Better coordinator Emily Tuschoff and volunteer Carolyn Rouviere. Tuschoff and Rouviere donate their services to help cancer patients enhance their appearance and deal with the changes due to radiation and chemotherapy.