Uhrinak named 2009 Service to Mankind recipient
The Brainerd Area Sertoma Club recently awarded its 2009 Service to Mankind Award to Dorothy Uhrinak.
The award, which is presented to a person who is not a member of Sertoma, recognizes the recipient's selfless focus, providing for others through service to better the community and mankind.
Dorothy Uhrinak
Although Uhrinak "would prefer her many acts of kindness go unnoticed, the Sertoma club believes she epitomizes the kind of recipient the award was intended to honor," the Sertoma club said in a news release.
A retired registered nurse, Uhrinak now volunteers at immunization, hearing and vision clinics.
Susan Rogers, volunteer coordinator for the Brainerd School District, in her nominating letter noted Uhrinak has been an advocate for the school district since the early 1990s. She noted her involvement in the Times Before TV program, which shares life interest crafts with fifth-graders.
Sertoma member Andy Holmes, who presented Uhrinak with the award, talked about the Reading Grandma Program and how her own daughter wanted to be part of the group with "reading problems" so she could participate in one of Uhrinak's favorite volunteer activities.
The news release said, Uhrinak "is a great listener and loves to sit and hear the children read. This marvelous woman judges spelling bees, proctors tests, files papers, sews book bags, assists in art classes and helps with summer community education courses in the public schools in Brainerd, Family of Christ Lutheran Schools and Horace May Elementary in Bemidji."
Uhrinak also provides transportation for Good Samaritan residents at Bethany and Woodland to medical appointments. "She also visits those residents who are alone and coping with illness and simply does what she does best - listens and provides human warmth and kindness," the news release said.