Congratulations Lori! Great Job!
Lori Turner receives Humanitarian of the Year Award
MOLINE-- It is her quiet way of doing things, and the number of things she does, that spurred Cindy Quinby to nominate her friend Lori Turner for the Illinois State Medical Society Alliance Humanitarian of the Year Award.
"I was very surprised, very honored and very humbled by it," Lori Turner, president of the Rock Island County Medical Society Alliance, said.
Last week, at a luncheon in Springfield, Ms. Turner was honored with the award for acts that range from fund-raising to collecting donations for orphanages, from gathering hospital and schools supplies for Tanzania, Africa, to reaching out to pregnant women and teens in the Quad-Cities.
"To me, this award means I am doing the right things caring for our community," said Ms. Turner, who also serves as Moline's 5th Ward aldermen. "I've often believed the only way to make things successful is to get people involved. If you want to have a good church, school and community, you have to be involved."
The local and state-wide alliances are non-profit organizations for physicians and spouses that focus on fund-raising and supporting and improving community health care.
The local organization has about 40 members has supported the Children's Therapy Center this year with fund-raisers and Trinity and Black Hawk nursing students with scholarships. This fall, the local alliance will help children in Rock Island County schools to get free flu shots.
Ms. Turner served in the U.S. Navy for five years as a dental and oral surgery assistant.She met her husband, Mike, an orthopedic surgeon for ORA, in the service. While her husband was serving in Desert Storm, Ms. Turner volunteered more than 300 hours for the Navy Relief Society, mostly sewing and assembling baby bibs and gift bags for families in need, according to the nomination letter written by Ms. Quinby, a member of the local alliance.
The couple have three children, the youngest was adopted from Bulgaria when he was four. After bringing him home, Ms. Turner began a clothing and toy drive for an orphanage, then found out it would cost $500 to deliver the goods to the country, she said.
Ms. Turner found a program that allowed things to be shipped for free on military flights when space was available, but she'd need 2,000 lbs to send. She embarked on a Quad-City wide collection drive and got 7,293 lbs to send. It was given to 10 orphanages, Ms. Turner said.
Afterwards, Ms. Turner began focusing on child abuse and neglect, which she said weighs heavily on her heart. She decided to reach out to pregnant women and teens to prevent abuse, and created a non-profit residential program in 2001, RuthServices. It has since merged with Lydia Association, which was housed in a 100-year-old building.
Ms. Turner helped organize volunteers to renovate the building.
She and her husband are a part of the Safe Families program in which they voluntarily open their home to families in crisis. "We help families so children don't have to go into homeless shelters or so their parents don't have to voluntarily place them into foster care,"she said. "These children are loved and have good families. They just need a helping hand."
Ms. Turner is a past president of the Illini Hospital Foundation, former member of the Moline Public Schools Foundation, former head of the Christian education program at Faith Lutheran Church.
She is currently appointed to the Keep Moline Beautiful Commission, Moline Library Board of Trustees and the Community Development Corporation. She also serves on her church council.
Ms. Turner believes anytime you can make your community better and stronger, it allows for growth. "It allows for people to enjoy a better family life and opportunities. It is wonderful to be involved in offering opportunities to others," she said.
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