Sisters In Christ Bonnie Danowski Care Giver Of The Year!    
Born and raised on a farm in Iowa, Bonnie has been married to Jim Danowski for 37 years and is the mother of two sons.  Her two-year-old granddaughter has stolen her heart.  She is a caregiver to her husband who has MS and is the creator and facilitator of a caregiver support process..  As a member of the Franciscan Renewal Center Community, Bonnie devotes much of her time with Valley Interfaith Project in their work for social change.     Today's Caregiver Magazine has awarded The Family CareHeroes Award for 2003 to Bonnie Danowski from Scottsdale, Arizona. Danowski has been a family caregiver for her husband who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the early 1970s. Danowski also teaches classes at the local senior center about how to cope with long term grief. She uses her experiences to help other people who are going through a similar situation. Most recently, she has been an advocate for family caregivers at the Arizona state government. Bonnie was appointed by the President of the Senate to sit on an Ad Hoc committee looking into the caregiver workforce dilemma. Danowski has used this position to rally her contacts from the Valley Interfaith Project to testify at legislative hearings and meetings suggesting ways to support caregivers. In addition, she is also involved with the National Family Caregivers Association as one of two Caregiver Action Network Representatives for the state of Arizona. According to Lois von Halle, who nominated Danowski, "Bonnie is a soft-spoken woman, but she is a powerhouse when it comes to creating energy to fight for an important cause such as caregivers."   She will receive the award at the "Sharing Wisdom" Conference for caregivers on August 28th. Keynote speaker is Debbie Reynolds. The conference will be held at the Pointe South Mountain Resort, South Pointe Parkway, Phoenix, Arizona, from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. Limited free tickets. To register or for more information, call 1-800-829-2734 or online at http://www.caregiver.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Caregiver Online is sponsored as a free service by Family Caregiver Alliance. Commercial messages are prohibited. To subscribe/unsubscribe please go to http://www.caregiver.org/online_sptgroup.html The address to send email to Caregiver Online is: >CAREGIVER-ONLINE@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM For Caregiver Online FAQ, please go to: http://www.caregiver.org/online_sptfaq.html For problems related to the listserver, please send email to: listadmin@caregiver.org To contact an FCA Resource Specialist, or for more information about Family Caregiver Alliance services, go to http://www.caregiver.org            Return to Sisters In Christ home page