Community Action Partnership of North Central Missouri presented its Outstanding Service to Community Action Award to Mayor Lawrence Allen at the 2016 Missouri CAN Annual Conference.
This award recognizes individuals, organizations, and businesses that have contributed to Community Action’s mission of “helping people and changing lives.” Missouri CAN is the statewide network of Community Action Agencies, Allies, and Supporters united to end poverty.
Lawrence has been a Board member of for the last 3-1/2 years. As the Mayor of Browning, MO he serves as the Public Elected Official of Linn County.
Lawrence also serves as the current 2nd Vice Chair of the Board, which is a position he has held for nearly 3 years. CAPNCM has faced many obstacles over the last few years. Lawrence was selected to serve on the Area Governing Board and from the very first meeting he has been one of the most active members we’ve had in years. He believes in the staff that works at CAPNCM and he believes in the work that we do as a Community Action Agency. His leadership has assisted in creating a culture in which Board members are asking more questions, which creates a quality dialogue regarding the important issues faced by our organization.
Because of his involvement beyond regularly scheduled Board meetings, it is obvious that other Board members are seeing the need to be involved as attendance at meetings has increased. Lawrence has spent approximately 60 hours serving CAPNCM on the Area Governing Board. In addition to his apparent responsibility of attending Board meetings, Lawrence was the only Board member to sit through CAPNCM’s 2-1/2 day strategic planning process which took approximately 20 hours. Finally, we were looking to do our very first large scale fundraiser and decided to do a softball tournament. Lawrence volunteered to set up the entire tournament, as well as solicit all the teams to play. Between planning, prior to the tournament, and being at the event all day, Lawrence easily gave more than 20 hours of his time to make sure the event was a success.
As a Board member of CAPNCM, Lawrence makes decisions that affect over 3,000 low-income residents of north central Missouri. He knows how vital the programs and services provided by CAPNCM are to individuals and families struggling to make ends meet. He has a good understanding of what community action can offer to those less fortunate, and is quick to work with staff when he identifies situations where someone is in need of assistance. Lawrence is devoted to the mission and vision of CAPNCM and is always looking for ways to reward staff because he truly believes employees are the backbone of any organization. He is employed full-time, is the Mayor of a small town, has a family he loves to spend time with, is very involved with the youth baseball program in his area, and he still finds time to serve and support CAPNCM.
CAPNCM focuses on assisting low-income people in their efforts to become self-sufficient. Services are provided to enable families to improve their financial, physical, mental and social level through programs designed to motivate individuals to set and reach personal goals. The CAPNCM Service Center is the first source of help for families in need. Trained, responsive personnel and volunteers develop plans with families to alleviate their current crisis situation and stabilize the family.
