Boys & Girls Club Leaders Recognized at Kiwanis Honors Dinner
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kiwanis Club of Lawrence hosted its sixth Honors Dinner to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence, bringing recognition and celebration to two long-standing community organizations. A pair of remarkable BGCLK staff members and a beloved volunteer were recognized for their service to the organization in the areas of leadership, service and dedication to empowering youth in Lawrence.
Additionally, the Kiwanis Club of Lawrence also combined its Substantial Citizen Award into the 2022 ceremony. This year’s Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence honorees are: Lindsay Bertels (BGCLK Director of Program Operations), Kathryn Watson-Jackson (BGCLK Youth Support Aide) and Mindy Collmeyer (BGCLK Advocate and Volunteer). The 2022 Kiwanis Substantial Citizen Award went to Gary Rexroad.
The ceremony was sponsored by Central National Bank, and Arterra provided the perfect backdrop for the heartwarming gathering. Matt Llewellyn serves on the board for both the Kiwanis Club and Boys & Girls Club. The amount of heart he pours into each is clearly evident in this annual event.
Brandon McAnderson was the emcee, sharing insight about his own experience as a Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence member when he was a kid – where he started playing Club football and his dreams centered on playing for the Lawrence High football team someday. Not only did McAnderson reach his dreams of playing for the Chesty Lions, he also went on to become a celebrated running back for the 2008 Orange Bowl Champion Kansas Jayhawks.
“Now I have two children, one is 13 and one is 7,” McAnderson beamed. “Our jobs as parents are to keep those dreams alive for our children as long as possible. That’s also what tonight’s honorees – and all of the people in this room – are doing. You are helping them keep their dreams alive. You’re helping them achieve them.”
Each honoree was introduced by one of the people who nominated them for their awards. Thus, setting the stage for a moving tribute to each of the award recipients.
“The whole highlight for me was seeing someone like Ms. Kit Kat be recognized,” BGCLK CEO Monica Dittmer said. “She’s been here for so long and pours her heart into this place every single day, and then to have one of her Club kids here to experience that recognition with her – that really sums it up. You hear Brandon McAnderson talk about being a Club kid and then hear his passion for giving back to the community. There’s really no better way to understand what that’s like until you see it full circle: you see someone who’s been in the Club, someone who works in the Club, someone who has kids in the Club and for me, this night really encapsulates all of that into one shared experience.”
Chris Wash, BGCLK Director of Operations, started the awards presentation by introducing Bertels. With 15 years of service, ‘Ms. Lindsay’ has grown up at the Club alongside the kids she mentored. Wash spoke about his admiration for Bertels, and shared with the crowd that she stepped up in the biggest way when he was called away by his post in the Army National Reserve for multiple weeks. Bertels took on the role of interim Director of Operations. According to Wash, he refers to her as his ace. He praised the way she consistently lives by the motto, “Whatever It Takes” to ensure both her Club kids and her team feel supported and empowered.
Bertels was joined at the ceremony by her husband, Dylan, and her parents. With tears in her eyes, she took to the podium to address the crowd.
“I love this organization, it means the world to me,” Bertels said. “I’ve not only been able to serve our kids, I’ve been able to watch my Club kids from 15 years ago to now come back and work for us. They want to serve the kids in the same way we served them. That is unbelievable. I couldn’t imagine myself being anywhere else. This is a very big honor.”
Watson-Jackson is a longtime mentor at BGCLK. In her 11 years at the Club, ‘Ms. Kit Kat’ has worked with kids and teens in a multitude of ways. That includes her service terms with AmeriCorps, working as a group leader, being a choreographer for her Lights On! Dance teams and her current role as a Youth Support Aide. Lizzie Vietz, BGCLK Marketing & Communications Assistant, and one of Ms. Kit Kat’s innumerable fans, introduced her.
Vietz explained what happened when Kiwanis and BGCLK staff members went to Deerfield to announce that Watson-Jackson was an award winner. She shared that Monica Dittmer, BGCLK CEO, likes to play a guessing game before she announces the winner, giving hints about the honoree so the kids can try to guess which staff member is being honored. Within a matter of one or two sentences, all of the kids had guessed Ms. Kit Kat. Vietz shared the sentiments from Watson-Jackson’s nominations that gave the audience a clear picture of how deeply invested she is in the lives of her Club kids.
Accompanied by her parents and one of her Club kids, Watson-Jackson thanked everyone in attendance.
“This award is mainly because of the Boys & Girls Club kids who I get to work with daily – and one of them even came here tonight to watch me receive my award,” Watson-Jackson said. “It’s because of them that I decided to get a degree in early childhood education and development, and I graduated last May!”
Collmeyer received her award for her countless hours of volunteer work on Boys & Girls Club fundraising events. Alissa Bourneuf, BGCLK Director of Marketing & Communications introduced Collmeyer by sharing what makes her such an invaluable asset to Club. She informed the crowd that Collmeyer has an incredibly demanding job at a global IT company named Kyndryl, that includes on-call evenings and weekends. She has serves on the Lawrence Schools Foundation board, spent numerous years on the Quail Run PTO and is part of the National Charity League. Despite her schedule, Mindy never misses meetings, always comes through with auction items (even buying many herself) and recruits her whole family to volunteer at Boys & Girls Club events. Thanks to Collmeyer’s dedication, BGCLK was able to host three virtual events while COVID had the community in lockdown and has been instrumental in creating the Celebrity Softball Weekend.
“I work in IT, so standing in front of a microphone and talking to people is not a world that I live in,” Collmeyer laughed. “We don’t even turn our cameras on for virtual conference calls every day. Thank for this honor – it was such a surprise! I’m excited to be a part of the Boys & Girls Club in any way that I can. After all of these speeches tonight, who wouldn’t want to be part of this? Thank you all.”
Last, but certainly not least, the evening wrapped up with the announcement of the 2022 Kiwanis Substantial Citizen Award. The first Substantial Citizen Award was given out in 1960. Five of the past award winners were in attendance, and Gary Rexroad joined their ranks on Thursday night.
Former Mayor of Lawrence, Mike Dever, provided the introduction for the 2022 Kiwanis Substantial Citizen Gary Rexroad. The duo met 15 years ago, along with their wives Lee Beth Dever and Angie Rexroad. The Devers noticed their generosity and servant hearts immediately. In the years since, Dever has witnessed his friend host numerous “Guac-Offs,” feed KU students at the Dole Institute and raise more than $500,000 for local non-profits in Lawrence via the Rexroad’s infamous sushi dinners. Those dinners are auctioned off at non-profit galas – and Gary and Angie hosts the winners in their own home.
Dever then got choked up when talking about Rexroad’s latest volunteering effort. He traveled to Poland after the invasion of the Ukraine. Rexroad took his passion for feeding others to a global level by bringing donated good and serving refugees food with Chef Andrès’s World Central Kitchen near the border with no concerns for his own safety.
“I’m grateful for and humbled by this recognition,” Rexroad said. “There’s a chapter in The Talmud – you probably didn’t expect to hear this tonight – but chapter 303 speaks to service and our duty to others. I’ll paraphrase. It says, ‘Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do good now. You’re not obligated to complete the work, nor are you free to abandon it.’ That has become a personal north star for me. With that thought, for this recognition to come from a group like The Kiwanis, it touches me deeply.”