Ed and Nancy Ryrie To receive Circle of Care Award from
Riverbend Head Start & Family Services
Award dinner is May 21, 2009 MADISON COUNTY, IL, March 10, 2009 . . . Riverbend Head Start & Family Services has named Ed and Nancy Ryrie of Alton the recipients of its 2009 Circle of Care community service award. The couple will receive the award at a dinner held in their honor on May 21, 2009, at Lewis & Clark Community College. Guests will learn about the Ryrie�s unwavering commitment to strong families, accessible healthcare and community service and how they have impacted Riverbend Head Start & Family Services� mission to enable children and families to develop positive skills to meet life�s challenges.
Nancy Ryrie co-chaired the first Circle of Care event in 1994 that honored Dr. Paul Pierce, her family�s pediatrician. Since moving to Alton from Aurora, Illinois in 1979, she has immersed herself in the Alton Memorial Hospital White Cross Auxiliary, health literacy activities, and myriad community service organizations. A heart attack survivor, Mrs. Ryrie is resolute in her commitment to educating the community, especially its women, about heart disease, the nation�s leading cause of death in women. Her inspiration comes from her mother, a White Cross Auxiliary member for as long as Nancy can remember, and her father, an oral surgeon who spent his career educating children and adults on the merits of proper oral healthcare, something Riverbend Head Start & Family Services also works hard at among its population of high-risk young children and their parents.
Edward Ryrie, an Alton native, grew up in a family committed to quality healthcare for all. For generations the Ryrie family has embraced Alton Memorial Hospital�s mission to improve the health of the people and communities it serves. That has included thousands of at-risk children and families that this agency has served since it began in 1916. Mr. Ryrie is an emeritus board member of Riverbend Head Start & Family Services and was an invaluable resource during the agency�s transition in 1997 that resulted in the sale of the Visiting Nurses Association program. That change refocused the agency�s mission on enabling children and families to develop positive skills to meet life�s challenges through child development and counseling programs.
Both were instrumental in achieving Alton Memorial Hospital�s recent capital campaign goal that will meet a fast-emerging need for expanded healthcare services in the community.
Center stage at the Circle of Care award dinner on May 21 will be the concept of family, acknowledging that strong families yield children who succeed in school and ultimately build better communities. The Ryrie�s own three grown children, are a testament to this belief.
Since 1994, Riverbend Head Start & Family Services has honored those who have made a significant contribution to the community through volunteerism, profession or philanthropy at its Circle of Care award dinner. Proceeds from corporate sponsorships, reservations, donations, program advertisements, raffle tickets and a silent auction directly benefit the agency�s programs that serve 4,000 children and families each year.
This tribute places the Ryrie�s on an impressive list of people who have enhanced the community through service. They are: Dr. Paul Pierce, Rod & Jane St. Clair, Essic Robinson, Dale & Carol Neudecker, Judge Nicolas Byron & Josephine Beckwith, Jim Goodwin, Buddy Davis, Paul & Sandy Lauschke, Jack & Betty Jacoby, Don Miller, Anna Beach & Andy Simpson, Ron McMullen, Steve & Mary Lou Cousley, Senator William Haine, Tom & Jeana Hutchinson, Bill & Pat Kessler and Diana Enloe.
Riverbend Head Start & Family Services is a non-profit organization that provides child development and counseling services to families in Madison County. Through its early intervention, early childhood education, parent education, crisis intervention and family and individual counseling services, the agency achieves its mission to enable children and families to develop positive skills to meet life�s challenges. www.riverbendfamilies.org
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MADISON COUNTY, IL, March 10, 2009 . . . Riverbend Head Start & Family Services has named Ed and Nancy Ryrie of Alton the recipients of its 2009 Circle of Care community service award. The couple will receive the award at a dinner held in their honor on May 21, 2009, at Lewis & Clark Community College. Guests will learn about the Ryrie�s unwavering commitment to strong families, accessible healthcare and community service and how they have impacted Riverbend Head Start & Family Services� mission to enable children and families to develop positive skills to meet life�s challenges.
