Friend of Children and Youth award presented
By ROWENA PLETT
Reporter / photographer
Sondra Mayfield of Marion and Margo Kinman of Hillsboro are recipients of the first "Friend of Children and Youth" award presented by Communities in Schools of Marion County.
Both are employees of Marion County Health Department. They were recognized for their contributions toward child safety.
Mayfield heads the Marion County chapter of Kansas Safe Kids and also is Healthy Start home visitor. She visits homes of pregnant girls and young mothers to inform them of social services provided by the county.
Through a friend at Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Mayfield found out about grant money available for providing car seats to social service and law enforcement agencies which are involved in transporting young children from time to time. The program also provides training in installing the seats.
She had never written a grant application before, but employees of local agencies agreed there was a great need to be informed of the proper use of child restraints. They encouraged her to apply.
"The information gained from this project would definitely help those community partners set a good example for the citizens of Marion County while keeping them in compliance with Kansas law," Mayfield stated in the grant application.
Mayfield's efforts were rewarded. The county health department received $5,500 in July for the project.
"I was thrilled about getting it," she said.
The money is being used to purchase child safety seats, safety harnesses, educational materials, promotional materials, and travel expenses for training sessions. It also includes instructor/technician expenses incurred in providing eight-hour training for law enforcement personnel.
Mayfield has until the end of the year to fulfill the goals of the grant.
The department has received 70 car seats.
"The problem was, where were we going to keep them?" Mayfield said.
The safety seats came in large boxes and required a lot of space for storage.
Kent Richmond and Audrey McLinden came to her rescue by offering places where the seats could be stored.
"I was very grateful," she said.
Mayfield is a child passenger safety technician. In May 2001, she spent 32 hours over a four-day period in Salina to become certified.
She has been employed by Marion County Health Department since December 1999.
Margo Kinman, secretary at MCHD, received the same training later in Wichita. She assists Mayfield in giving demonstrations.
"I don't know what I would do without Margo's help to make this project successful," Mayfield said.
She also is grateful to Darvin Markley of Marion who provided a training seat. He removed a passenger seat from a vehicle and modified it for child safety seat demonstrations.
Trainers can demonstrate and participants can practice installing safety seats without having to crawl in and out of a vehicle.
"That has been a tremendous help," Mayfield said.
To date, the grant has provided technical training and safety seats to Marion County Head Start, Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Marion County, and Prairie View Mental Health Center of Marion County.
Marion County Safe Kids chapter and Marion County Health Department also have been recipients.
Others slated to receive training and car seats are police departments in Marion, Hillsboro, Florence, Peabody, and Burns; Marion County Sheriff's Department; St. Luke Hospital, Marion; Hillsboro Community Medical Center; Social and Rehabilitation Services of Marion County; and Marion County Early Intervention Services.
"This has turned out to be a big part of my job," Mayfield said. "I think it's a great program."
She also provides car seat check lines in various communities.
The Marion County Safe Kids chapter is affiliated with the Kansas Safe Kids Coalition, Inc., which is a non profit organization comprised of more than 70 statewide and regional organizations and businesses.
