On Saturday, October 17th, Karen Funkenbusch was a member of the Ask the Specialists Panel during the Survivor and Family Seminar at the 11th Annual Statewide Brain Injury Conference hosted by the Brain Injury Association of Missouri, nonprofit disability partner with the Missouri AgrAbility Project. The conference featured national and local experts sharing current research, cutting-edge therapeutic strategies, and best practice treatments. This is the only conference in Missouri established to specifically address issues relating to brain injury. Premier educational opportunities were offered for healthcare, rehabilitation, vocational, residential, and community support professionals where they gain knowledge and further develop skills to provide care for individuals who have sustained a brain injury. The Missouri AgrAbility Project co-sponsored the veteran track. And, on Saturday, October 17th, Chris Allen, brain injury survivor and Missouri farmer, and Sherry Nelson, caregiver, attended the BIA-MO Survivor and Family Seminar.
Karen Funkenbusch received the University of Missouri Vice Provost's Diversity Award: Individual. The individual Diversity Award was presented to Karen in recognition of her leadership in the area of diversity with the Missouri AgrAbility Project based on efforts related to the creation or expansion of programming or services in which diversity is emphasized, the diversity of audiences served, and program impact.
Willard Downs, Karen Funkenbusch, Linda Geist, Jason Vance from MU Extension, K.B. Paul from Lincoln University Extension, and Maureen Cunningham from the Brain Injury Association of Missouri, partners of the Missouri AgrAbility Project, presented a poster, Implementing a Successful Media Plan, during the 2015 MU Extension Summit, October 27th- 29th.
Submitted by Karen Funkenbusch
The Brain Injury Association of Missouri presented Julie Harker, reporter with Brownfield Ag News for America, and its parent company, Learfield Communications, with the Service Excellence - Public Relations Award. This award recognizes Julie for her media stories that raise awareness about agriculture, rural communities, and AgrAbility. Specific stories included features about veterans returning from military combat with brain injury succeeding in agribusiness, advocacy efforts on behalf of veterans returning to rural Missouri, and teenager Zane Volkmann who turned his brain injury while riding a horse into an opportunity to raise awareness about helmet safety. Julie's stories are regularly distributed throughout Arkansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Submitted by Maureen Cunningham