Marklund announces 2011 Hero Award recipients

Marklund announces the recipients of the annual Hero Awards — Carrie Alani of Wauconda and Rob Lang of Downers Grove.

The awards will be presented at a special ceremony at the banquet of the 29th Annual Golf Classic Thursday, May 26, at Hilton Chicago-Indian Lakes Resort, 250 W. Schick Road, Bloomingdale.

Established in 2003, the Hero Award is given annually to individuals or groups who for many years have tirelessly supported and furthered the Marklund mission with change and enhancement. Hero Award winners have gone beyond the status quo to improve the lives of the infants, children and adults Marklund serves.

Marklund’s development team nominates candidates, and the final decision rests with the members of Marklund’s board of directors.

Carrie Alani

Alani worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant at Marklund and later went to work at a facility similar to Marklund where she developed a special bond with a small child named Kimmy.

Eventually the family adopted Kimmy. As the child grew, Alani’s family found comfort in placing Kimmy at Marklund for residency until she died in her early teens.

Alani’s regard for Marklund influenced her career choice, and she became a pediatric palliative care nurse in the community.

She believes if children in the community receive palliative care, which includes therapeutic nursing, massage therapy, music therapy, aroma therapy, etc., why couldn’t the children who live at Marklund and similar facilities also get these same services?

She applied and received a $50,000 grant to start a test program at Marklund to see if palliative care in a long-term facility would be effective in keeping kids healthier and improving their quality of life. The program is titled Hope’s Circle of Friends.

“The transformation of the kids in the program has been dramatic,” said Lois Sheaffer Kramer, Marklund’s director of children’s services. “Their conditions are improving both medically and emotionally. Carrie’s enthusiasm and spirit is contagious. She is supportive to the kids, staff, and families. She loves Marklund, and we love her, too.”

Rob Lang

Lang was introduced to Marklund in the 1990s when he started doing pro bono work for Marklund through his law firm Fagel & Haber. He continued his work on behalf of Marklund when he became a partner with Quarles & Brady. Lang’s work continues today at Holland & Knight. Even when he changed firms, his current and previous firms continued to support Marklund thanks to the strong relationships Lang established between the firms and Marklund.

Lang never has declined Marklund’s requests for legal guidance. Today, his legal work includes support with reviewing contracts; contract with Life Services Network (LSN), Marklund’s worker’s compensation carrier, contracts for bin collections, trademark protection for the “You Caught My Eye” logo/slogan and copyrighting for any Marklund program. His in-kind legal guidance has saved Marklund significant dollars.

“Rob is always enthusiastic, responsive and helpful,” said Vicki Krystof, director of development for Marklund. “He has his heart and intent on protecting Marklund and doing the right thing.”

For more information, visit: http://www.marklundgolfclassic.com