AH Senior Citizens Commission announces Kenneth Hood Senior Services Award recipient

The Village of Arlington Heights Senior Citizens Commission proudly announced that Jack Hanahan is the fifth annual Kenneth Hood Senior Service Award recipient.

Hanahan was honored Aug. 20 with a reception after he was presented with the Kenneth Hood Senior Services Award at the village board of trustees meeting.

Hanahan and his family have lived in Arlington Heights since 1972. After his 1983 quintuple bypass heart surgery, he was visited by a member of the Mended Hearts, an organization of former heart surgery patients, who visit and counsel new patients. In 1993, Jack founded a Mended Hearts Chapter at Northwest Community Hospital. In 1997, he accepted the position of regional coordinator for the Mended Hearts program and remains active with the program to this day.

In the early 1990s, Jack joined the Tax-Aide program as a TCE volunteer tax preparer. TCE-Tax Counseling for the Elderly offers free federal and state income tax preparation for lower and middle income individuals ages 60 and over. In 2000, he became the TCE coordinator of the Wheeling Township site and was subsequently appointed overall coordinator of all the Arlington Heights tax aide sites. His immediate recruitment efforts increased the number of counselors available to serve the three Arlington Heights sites.

In 2004, he became the Tax Aide state coordinator, supervising 1,000 volunteers at 245 sites. Currently, Hanahan serves as the district coordinator for the Tax Aide program in Arlington Heights.

Hanahan has been very active in fundraising at St. James Church in Arlington Heights. He and his wife, Peg, chaired fundraising in 2000. In 1995, he became involved with the successful management of the Bingo program. Currently the parish has a plan for campus expansion and Hanahan was asked to manage the properties involved until they were integrated in the master plan. He continues to usher at St. James and is a member of the retired men’s group.

Pastor William Zavaski, St. James Parish, stated that “Jack is unwavering in his commitment of putting others, especially the elderly, before himself…”

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