BY ROD ROSE

Lebanon -- A daily diet of handshakes, high-fives and hugs help keep Mary Jackson coming back to Arc Rehab Services, who came to volunteer for one day in 1991 and never left.

Jackson's dedication earned her "Volunteer of the Year" honors at the agency's annual awards luncheon Monday.

Other award recipients were:

• Connie Cash, Witham Health Services, Community Partner Award;
• Doug McDonald of Knotty Pine Smorgasbord, Business of the Year;
• Jane Cassell and bill Staton, 10-year service awards; and
• Becky Gilliam and Scott Moffat, who had been recognized earlier as Program Participant Achievers of the Year.

  "I didn't know I worked so hard," Jackson said after her introduction by Brent Cardin, Arc's executive director. She cited the "respect and admiration" she has for the program participants, who give her handshakes, high-fives and hugs on a daily basis.

  "I get more than I give," Jackson said.

  "Lebanon and Boone County are blessed because Mary is in many different projects," Cardin said during the lunch in the Richard Anderson Conference Room at Arc's 900 W. Main St. headquarters.

  Jackson organizes and runs the agency's annual adult services Thanksgiving banquet; helped organize a Lebanon Kiwanis AKtion Club and wrote, then updated, a history of the agency, "complete with pictures," Cardin said.

  Jackson, who is also secretary of Arc's board of directors, "has taken on the role of advocate for an adult with a disability here at Arc Rehab to ensure that he gets all the services he needs in a timely fashion," Cardin said.

  Witham's participation in Arc's Job Connection program earned the Community Partner award which "exemplifies what it means to help people with disabilities in a way that will allow a person to work and live in our community as independently as possible," Cardin said.

  Cash "is the embodiment of this desire for inclusion," Cardin said. "She is an exceptional manager who shows flexibility in working out various schedule and assignment changes," he said.

  "With a community partner like Connie Cash, we have been able to make a difference in people's lives for the good of that person as well as this community as a whole," Cardin said.

  Cash said she appreciates the Job Connection staff for all they do.

  "This is a great program," she said. "We look forward to having your folks come and work at Witham."

  McDonald is working with local churches to raise $25,000 in food services for needy causes, Cardin said. "Doug has organized fund-raisers for many a good cause through chili suppers with a percent of the evening's meal going to a not-for-profit" agency, and opened his "workforce to accommodate people with disabilities," Cardin said.

  McDonald thought he was at Arc Monday only to cater the luncheon, Cardin said. "We also had something else in mind, as we wanted to give you this award," Cardin told a surprised McDonald.

  "The Lord has blessed me many times," McDonald said, including with "an appreciation of the work that goes on here."

  "Thanks very much; I appreciate it," McDonald said.

  Staton and Cassell, who was unable to attend, "both have worked tirelessly to advance our mission," Cardin said.

  This was the third year in a row Arc has set a record for the number of people it serves through program ranging from the W.I.C. food supplement and nutrition information program for women and children, to training that helps "people with disabilities and others in need reach their maximum potential in their community," Cardin said.