---

DEAN LARRICK CHOSEN AS 2007 JANE BRINTON AWARD WINNER

Remarks by Lois Shelton, Executive Director of BCCA at the Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, November 17, 2007

Each year, the Board of the Boone County Council on Aging, on behalf of the community, chooses a person or group who best exemplifies the community’s commitment to the well-being of its older citizens.  The memorial award is named in honor of Jane Brinton, a long-time member of the MU School of Nursing and a passionate advocate of increased services for seniors in Boone County.  Ms. Brinton died in 1996, and her will included funds to support senior services in Boone County.

BCCA is proud to name DEAN LARRICK as the recipient of the 2007 Jane Brinton Memorial Award for Excellence in Community Senior Services.

In 1987, after a 30 year career in human resources with the federal government, Dean retired, at the ripe old age of 55.  He, and his wife Charlotte, moved from Washington D.C. to central Missouri in 1989.  Both Dean and Charlotte were Missouri natives and they wanted to move back to the state of their roots.

Beginning in 1991, Dean committed his life to passionate involvement in his adopted community, through RSVP volunteering. 

For the past 16 years, he has done almost EVERYTHING.    Dean is active as a volunteer for Ellis Fischel Cancer Hospital, where he served in the auxiliary and even managed, unexpectedly, to be the “best man” in a hospital wedding.  He has taken patients at the Veterans’ Hospital on a fishing trip, videotaped practice job interviews with clients of JobPoint who have had difficulty entering the work force, helped low-income seniors with Christmas shopping through the community’s Voluntary Action Center Christmas program, and organized hundreds of pounds of used clothing for resale at the Wardrobe.  He has helped with Columbia’s First Night celebration on New Year’s event and has contributed his time and considerable artistic talent to the Columbia Art League. (His art presently graces the walls of BCCA’s office, so come see his work before his show ends in late December!).  He has worked blood drives, varnished  the dining room table at Rainbow House, done AIDS outreach, painted food bins for the Food Bank, and officiated at the state Show Me Games. He also coordinated a highly successful 55 Alive Driver Safety Program.

There are few places in this community where Dean’s activities as a senior volunteer have not had an impact.

The Jane Brinton award recognizes persons who care deeply about services TO seniors, and Dean’s volunteering has had an enormous impact there too.  For years, he delivered food from the food pantry in Columbia to seniors in Rocheport.  He served as these seniors’ friend, their “community family”, and their helper. Once, I’m told, he even changed a tire for one of his clients, thus supporting the senior’s independence.  Dean has also served a leadership role at the Boone County Council on Aging and is presently an active member of the RSVP Advisory Council, a role he has played three times in the past decade.

In 2003, the impact of Dean’s volunteer activities on the community was recognized by the Missouri Community Services Commission, when Dean received the Lieutenant Governor’s Service Award.

Each of Dean’s activities is worthy of praise in itself, but when added together they represent a life of service to the community and its older members, by a man committed to bettering the quality of life for everyone. 

Columbia, MO – Individuals and groups interested in volunteering to shovel snow for low income seniors age 55 and older in Boone County are urged to contact Natalie at the Boone County Council on Aging at 443-1111 or email her at bcca03@centurytel.net.

BCCA Snow Brigade volunteers agree to clear the senior’s walkway and a strip down one side of the senior’s driveway each time it snows. This invaluable service ensures that seniors remain safe and are provided access to vital services such as home-delivered meals and pharmacy deliveries.

BCCA tries to match volunteers with seniors who live in their neighborhood, so the program becomes neighbors helping neighbors. This service is for low-income seniors who do not have the financial resources to pay for snow removal and who do not have family or friends nearby to assist them.