Karen Wellert, president of Adultcare Assistance Homecare (second from right), honors Dorothy Mills (from left), Louise Bajus and Rosina Lillywhite at the semi-annual Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award luncheon held at Palmbrook Country Club in Sun City on March 21, 2006.
In addition to the certificate, Bajus was awarded a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond, and the runner-ups Mills and Lillywhite each received savings bonds for $100.
To submit nomination forms for the next Arizona All-Star Caregivers Award, click here or call (623) 977-2223.
Karen Wellert, president of Adultcare Assistance Homecare (from right), announced the first Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award recipient, Felicia Belle McGuckin; runner-ups Irene Lincoln and Earline Ferguson; with assistant director of Adultcare Assistance Homecare, Norma Hamilton, at an awards luncheon on August 18, 2005.
McGuckin was awarded a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond, and Lincoln and Ferguson each received savings bonds for $100.
August 2005, Sun City Arizona.
Karen Wellert, president of Adultcare Assistance Homecare in Sun City, understands firsthand the necessity of caregivers in the health care system, since she herself has been a caregiver for 35 years. To recognize other devoted caregivers for their outstanding service, Wellert founded the semi-annual Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award as part of Adultcare Assistance's Abundant Community Program.
The Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award has begun a new tradition of honoring the top three finalists at a private luncheon. On August 18 at Palmbrook Country Club in Sun City the three guests of honor Felicia Belle McGuckin, Earline Ferguson, and Irene Lincoln, all of Sun City, joined several of the judges at the awards luncheon. It was a chance for the caregivers to realize those countless hours of devotion count, and their round-the-clock roles as nurse, chef, chauffeur, housekeeper, companion and friend are appreciated.
McGuckin, a self-employed caregiver, was presented the Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award and received a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond. She told her story laced with tears of joy, recalling that her calling to become a caregiver came when she was a clothing designer. Having cared for her ailing mother prior to opening her retail fashion stores, there was a strong thread tugging at her heart that urged her to tend to others.
A voice said, 'It's time to do something else,'" McGuckin trusted her instincts and listened to her inner-voice, because it had never let her down before. Since becoming a caregiver her strings of stories are woven with compassion, and she says, "My talents with hair, clothes and a sense of humor get me through the sad times."
McGuckin's abundance of nomination forms received by Adultcare Assistance for the Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award deemed her a worthy candidate for the title. Those who know McGuckin, shared the sterling characteristics that prove she is willing to go the "extra mile," bringing to clients a unique "sense of style" that soars "above and beyond" the average caregiver to become an "extended family" member.
The runner-ups, Ferguson and Lincoln, each were awarded savings bonds for $100. Ferguson has been married for 55 years and a loving caregiver to her paralyzed husband for 41 years, creating a balanced lifestyle filled with laughter, travel and she adds, "I've enjoyed all of it." Lincoln is a volunteer with Sun Valley Lodge and was nominated as a glowing "example that the joy in life is not what you receive, but what you give."
Adultcare Assistance Homecare received nineteen nominations by June 30 for the first Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award. Judging the entries was an award panel of social service professionals including: Sun City Community Foundation's, Jim Green; Sun City Fire Department's, Stacy Bodenstedt; Sun City West Fire Department's, Debra Johnson; Interfaith Services', Michelle Dionisio; and Adultcare Assistance's, Karen Wellert.
"The ongoing All-Star Award is open to caregivers throughout the state," Wellert affirms and welcomes nominations for the next Arizona All-Star Caregiver Award. The nominated caregiver may be a family member; volunteer with a hospital or hospice organization; medical professional; private caregiver; or an employee at an independent, assisted living, or skilled nursing community.
The nomination forms are available online at www.adultcareassistance.com, or at the Adultcare Assistance corporate office located at 10404 W. Coggins Drive, Suite 108, in Sun City. For information about Adultcare Assistance Homecare please call (623) 977-2223.
