Eastern Iowans going into state volunteer hall of fame

CEDAR RAPIDS - Iowa Legal Aid has a passionate advocate in Diane Kutzko.

The same can be said about Camp Courageous and Gloria Ford.

Because of their service, the two Eastern Iowans will be among five people inducted April 13 into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame at the state capitol in Des Moines.

DIANE KUTZKO

Kutzko is a senior vice president at Shuttleworth & Ingersoll and in 1995 played a key role in creating the law firm's intake project, in which attorneys volunteer every other week to meet with clients of Iowa Legal Aid. She still participates in the intake project, and tries to take a couple cases a year.

Kutzko also helped lead the merger of Legal Services Corporation (LSCI) and Polk County Legal Aid in 2003, which resulted in the formation of Iowa Legal Aid. She also worked to secure funding from the Iowa Legislature for the organization after federal funding was reduced in the mid 1990s.

'She did great work for us at a time that we were facing many challenges,” said Dennis Groenenboom, executive director of Iowa Legal Aid, who nominated Kutzko for the hall of fame. 'I think her time commitment, her wisdom and her patience were really important to us getting a good result in those particularly challenging times.”

Groenenboom said Kutzko's work 'changed the face of legal aid.”

'Without that funding Diane's work, we would have fewer offices and fewer people would be served,” he said.

Groenenboom said he kept the nomination a secret from Kutzko.

'I was dumbfounded,” she said of learning she was being inducted into the hall of fame. 'I just was very honored, extremely honored. There are so many people who volunteer for really important entities and projects and I was just very proud.

'In my mind it's a really public recognition of the important job Iowa Legal Aid does,” she added. 'That's the real key message here. This is a recognition for what Iowa Legal Aid does for people who can't afford lawyers otherwise.”

Kutzko said her service with Iowa Legal Aid has been a 'labor of love.”

'I really think access to justice for the poor is extremely important and am pleased to have been involved all those years,” Kutzko said.

GLORIA FORD

Ford has been involved at Camp Courageous since 1972, before there were buildings, according to Shannon Poe, the camp's volunteer director.

'She and her husband were a really big part of getting VFWs involved in supporting camp, which was a really big boost financially in the early days,” Poe said.

Nowadays, Ford comes out for special events and works every week in the camp's office.

'She is one of the most dedicated volunteers there ever could be,” Poe said. 'I think people here at camp who know Gloria just love her. She's a mother or grandmother figure to the staff, and such a sweet lady. She's very interesting to talk to and has great life stories.”

Ford said her nomination to the hall of fame was 'quite a shock”

'They are family to me,” she said of the camp staff. 'They are just wonderful people to work with. I can't say enough about how good and caring people there are that work out there.”

Ford said her daughter and granddaughter work with those with special needs.

'Our own family, we've been very fortunate, but we have seen the drama that happens to so many families” who have special needs members, Ford said.

Last year, Poe said Ford had some health problems, and 'we missed seeing her face here every week.”

'It made us all realize how much we all appreciate her,” Poe said.