March 2, 2021
Shout Out: Christin Bartels, Tracy Hemsath, Marlys Larson, and Lainey Allen
This week’s Shout Out comes from K-State Research and Extension – Johnson County director Tara Markley. Tara wrote:
“I would like to give a Shout Out for K-State Research and Extension Johnson County office professionals Christin Bartels, Tracy Hemsath and Marlys Larson, as well as program coordinator Lainey Allen for their efforts to think creatively in how to serve our clients over the last few months.
January is radon month and knowing we have sold over 1,000 kits from our office, we did not want that sort of foot traffic through the doors during this current COVID-19 challenge. This team of four strategized on providing a mailing option for county residents. This is a great idea, in theory, but actually putting a consistent mailing of this quantity together on a weekly basis was not an easy solution. This team of four made it happen through perseverance, creativity, a willingness to try something different and positivity.
February kicked off the Volunteer Income Tax Assistant site. The strong volunteer cadre who make up our VITA team are not conducting face-to-face meetings. The new challenge was how to mitigate the 1,200+ returns from our citizens which come through the office. Again, this team of four, with the support of Denise Dias, was able to work through a process for mailing/drop off and also mailing/pick-up of necessary tax information.
The patience and endurance of this team in working with the public on solving problems has been uplifting. I want to give a big shout out to their continued efforts in making extension programs accessible and safe to all of our residents.”
Christin, Tracy, Marlys and Lainey, thanks for all you do for the people we serve, your colleagues, and K-State Research and Extension!
If you know of a colleague or a team of colleagues who deserve to be recognized for a job well done, why not give them a Shout Out? Simply email their name(s) and the reason for the Shout Out to ghadley@ksu.edu.