| PRESS RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Nicole Plegge, Public Relations Specialist
Phone: 314.428.4373 x 115
Heartland Lions Eye Banks Receives Award for Compassion
Columbia, Mo. (June 12, 2009) – Heartland Lions Eye Banks has been honored by The
Compassionate Friends as a recipient of the 2009 Compassionate Employer Recognition. The
award was presented to Executive Director Ron Walkenbach and Springfield Branch Manager Pam Simpson by Barbara Starr, regional supervisor of The Compassionate Friends, on Tuesday,
June 9, 2009.
The Compassionate Friends is the world‟s largest self-help bereavement organization, providing
support and friendship to families that have experienced the death of a child. This year, 141
employers across the country are receiving Compassionate Employer Recognition for going
above and beyond the normal policies of most companies in helping an employee after the death
of a child.
The Eye Bank was nominated by Kharim Strayhorn, hospital services coordinator of the
Springfield branch. After losing his son, Dante, to Necrotizing Entercoloitis, Strayhorn was
touched by the support of his follow Eye Bank team members who donated personal time and
money for expenses as well as allowed him to maintain a flexible schedule.
“Because of the strong flow of compassion throughout my entire company, the transition required
to manage life after losing a child was made markedly easier for our entire family,” remarked
Strayhorn. “I decided to nominate the Eye Bank because of their incredible understanding and
continued support. Without the assistance and understanding I received we surely would have lost
a lot more. A sincere 'thank you' is due to the entire Eye Bank staff.”
Criteria for Compassionate Employer Recognition include, but are not limited to:
1. Allowing additional time off without loss of benefits.
2. Allowing flexible work schedules and assignments.
3. Allowing leeway in job performance standards.
4. Fostering an environment of mutual support among coworkers.
5. Providing professional grief counseling, human resources support or information
regarding self-help bereavement organizations.
6. Other policies and practices that go beyond what is normal in the community.
“When a child dies, families begin a grief journey that follows them through all parts of their
lives,” said Patricia Loder, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends. “Today the need
for support in the workplace so often takes a back seat to the demands of the marketplace. We are
pleased that Heartland Lions Eye Banks is among those 141 employers, large and small, public
and private, that are being recognized for providing the compassion and understanding that is vitally needed in the bereavement process.”
This is the ninth year for recognition of employers by The Compassionate Friends.
The Compassionate Friends
The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of
grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be
supportive. To contact The Compassionate Friends, call toll-free 877-969-0010 or visit the TCF
national website at www.compassionatefriends.org.
Heartland Lions Eye Banks
Heartland Lions Eye Banks is a division of the Missouri Lions Eye Research
Foundation; a 501c(3) organization with the mission to preserve and restore the sight of people
throughout Missouri and around the world. The Eye Bank operates seven branches throughout
Missouri, Kansas and Illinois with headquarters in Columbia, Missouri. The Eye Bank is one of
the five largest eye banks in the U.S. and offers high quality donor cornea tissue to transplant
surgeons around the world. In addition the Eye Bank is committed to research for causes and
cures for eye diseases.
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