Senate Resolution 147 - Introduced

PAG LIN





  1  1                SENATE RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2                       BY  JOHNSON
  1  3 A Resolution recognizing and honoring the work of
  1  4    Easter Seals and its efforts to help persons with
  1  5    disabilities.
  1  6    WHEREAS, in 1919, Edgar Allen founded what became
  1  7 known as the National Society for Crippled Children,
  1  8 and in 1934 the organization launched its first Easter
  1  9 "seals" campaign to raise money for its services.  In
  1 10 1967 the organization formally adopted the name
  1 11 "Easter Seals"; and
  1 12    WHEREAS, today, 54 million Americans live with a
  1 13 disability, and Easter Seals has been helping those
  1 14 individuals and their families live better lives for
  1 15 more than 80 years; and
  1 16    WHEREAS, Easter Seals Iowa helps children and
  1 17 adults with disabilities across Iowa by providing
  1 18 child care, medical equipment loans, job training and
  1 19 employment services, and camping, recreation, and
  1 20 respite care; and
  1 21    WHEREAS, Easter Seals Iowa runs a program called
  1 22 Rural Solutions, a program for farmers who are
  1 23 disabled and want to remain farming their land; and
  1 24    WHEREAS, the work of Easter Seals Iowa and Rural
  1 25 Solutions can be seen in the success story of Ryan
  1 26 Odens of Little Rock, Iowa, who operates his family
  1 27 farm even though he is a quadriplegic; and
  1 28    WHEREAS, Mr. Odens was injured in a rollover
  1 29 accident in the summer of 2000, but after intensive
  1 30 therapy he returned to his farm in less than one year,
  2  1 and through the assistance of Easter Seals Rural
  2  2 Solutions and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services,
  2  3 Mr. Odens' tractors and combines were retrofitted with
  2  4 platform lifts to raise him up to the cab, his home
  2  5 was remodeled so that he can continue to live
  2  6 independently, and he now uses a specially designed,
  2  7 all=terrain vehicle to move around the farm, check
  2  8 crops, and inspect livestock; and
  2  9    WHEREAS, Mr. Odens now serves as the Easter Seals
  2 10 National Adult Ambassador for the United States; NOW
  2 11 THEREFORE,
  2 12    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate, with
  2 13 great respect, honors Easter Seals for more than eight
  2 14 decades of service to the disabled; and
  2 15    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate thanks Ryan
  2 16 Odens for sharing his story of hope and recovery with
  2 17 Iowa and the nation.
  2 18 LSB 6638SS 81
  2 19 jr:nh/sh/8