The Link

10/8/2012
HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE

HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE HONORS FAMILY LIFE

Heartland Family Service sponsors Family Week of Iowa and Nebraska, proclaimed annually by the State's governors during Thanksgiving Week. This year Family Week is celebrated November 18-24, 2012. The Family Week event is the annual Heartland Family Service Salute to Families Awards Celebration. The ceremony will be held on Thursday, November 8, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Mid-America Conference Center, One Arena Way, in Council Bluffs. Tickets are $25.00 for adults and $10.00 for children. Call (712) 435-5350 for ticket information.

Four southwest Iowa families will be honored for their strong family life and community service. John Knicely, WOWT news anchor, will serve as master of ceremonies at both events. The honored families include: (photos of the honored families are available by email):

Community Service

The Sharon & Bill Ballenger Family, Council Bluffs

Leadership

Liz and Scott Doll Family, Council Bluffs

Challenged and Successful

The Darla & Tim Johnson Family, Council Bluffs

Commitment to Family

Ruby & Bruce Bentley Family, Macedonia, IA

The Heartland Family Service Salute to Families award program was established in 1982 to provide a positive message about family life. Nominations for the Salute to Families awards are submitted by the general public. Nominations for next year's program are being accepted from now until May 1. Nominate by calling (712) 435-5350 or online at www.HeartlandFamilyService.org

The Salute to Families awards program in Iowa is hosted by the Heartland Family Service Southwest Iowa Advisory Committee: Suzi Brehmer, Jody Edwards, Janella Higgins, Cindy Hoover, Jill Killion, Rick Killion, Tonya Korkow, Kelley Kulesa, Scott McMullen, Martha Peterson, Sara Scott, Janae Sternberg, Joanie Tekippe and Barb Walsh. Nancy Schulze is the Heartland Family Service vice president of Iowa professional services.

Heartland Family Service was founded in Omaha in 1875 and merged with Family & Child Services in Council Bluffs in 1972. The agency is a non-profit, non-sectarian social work organization. Eight of the agency's 16 locations are located in Southwest Iowa, serving the counties of Pottawattamie, Harrison, Shelby, Mills, Cass, Montgomery, Adair, Page & Fremont.

The History of Heartland Family Service Salute to Families

The Salute to Families program at Heartland Family Service is an annual awards program honoring families for exemplary family life and/or community service. Categories include Challenged and Successful, Commitment to Family, Leadership and Community Service. Nominations are submitted by the public. For the past decade or more, this event has served as the kick-off to our local "Family Week" campaign, an effort to encourage area families to arrange time together to focus on and honor their family strengths.

The Salute to Families program has a long and compelling history. In 1982, because of a growing public discussion concerning the potential demise of the American nuclear family, we first developed the family recognition concept to call attention to the many strong families that existed in our community. We developed a coalition of organizations, and named it the "Great American Family Awards." At that time, we had the support of four local organizations and the American Family Society, a national organization that honored nine families nationwide. The Society raised enough support to fly all nine families to Washington D.C. for an awards ceremony with First Lady Nancy Reagan, who was the honorary chairman. During Mrs. Reagan's chairmanship, two families from the Omaha metro area were recognized and traveled to Washington-in 1982, the first year of the national program, and again in 1985.

After a few years, funding for the national program dwindled, as did the local funding from the other organizations of the Omaha coalition. But because this program matched the Heartland Family Service mission so closely, and because the board of directors agreed that it was important for this agency to recognize and promote strong family life in our community, we decided to continue the program alone. During that time, many similar agencies from around the nation consulted with us to develop their own family recognition programs.

About 1994, the Great American Family program was assigned to the agency's newly developed volunteer guild, the Heartland Family Service Friends. Because national support had weakened, the program was renamed to emphasize the local aspect. Since then, because of the excellent support from the Family Service Friends, community volunteers and local media, the Salute to Families Awards has become a tightly organized, growing program associated with our agency. In 2002, we added an annual program in Council Bluffs, to honor the many strong families in Southwest Iowa.

Family nominations are submitted by the general public in the spring, a selections committee of community volunteers makes the selections in the summer, and the families are honored in November. The goal for selections is to reflect the diversity of family life in our community, including foster and adoptive families, single-parent and blended families, and extended families-of all cultures and religious beliefs. In promotions, the honored families are not referred to as "winners," they are presented as "representatives"
of the metro area's many strong families.

Each year, the Governor of Nebraska honors the families with a photo reception in October, and proclaims Family Week of Nebraska. The Governor of Iowa also proclaims Family Week of Iowa. In November, around 250 people attend each dinner to honor the families and to be a part of this family-friendly event. Tears of recollection and the laughter of small children are common when the honored families speak of deciding priorities and making sacrifices. Even more important, guests have told us this is an event that has moved them to rededicate their commitment to their own families.

What could be more honorable than to encourage area families by showing them that strong families are not so different from their own? What could be a better investment in our community (and in our future workforce) than calling attention to how parents can raise healthy, contributing citizens? By honoring strong families, Heartland Family Service encourages area families to understand that they are not alone in facing the challenges of today's family life. And in many cases, they are doing a better job than they realize!

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(Contact: Nancy Schulze, VP of IA Professional Services, Nschuze@heartlanfamilyservice.org, 712-435-5350 OR Dawn Bashara, Director of Communications, dbashara@heartlandfamilyservice.org, 402-552-7447 or 402-676-3420)

How To Download Highlight the caption (if available). Go to EDIT and select COPY. Open your favorite Word Processor and go to EDIT and select PASTE. Click on the Photo or Graphic to begin downloading the full Photo or Graphic to your computer.
	Commitment to Family: Ruby & Bruce Bentley Family Macedonia, IA
	Leadership: Liz and Scott Doll Family Council Bluffs
	Community Service: The Sharon & Bill Ballenger Family Council Bluffs
	Challenged and Successful: The Darla & Tim Johnson Family Council Bluffs