United Cerebral Palsy of Central Minnesota celebrated its 50th anniversary on Friday evening at the St.Cloud Radisson. Part of the celebration was to create a new annual award, the Spirit Award. Kathy Wingen, CMLS's Volunteer Attorney Program coordinator for the St. Cloud area, was the first ever recipient.

Kathy has spastic cerebral palsy and was born premature at a weight of 2 lbs roughly 50 years ago (We will be polite and not divulge Kathy's exact age.) The first doctor the family consulted advised her parents to institutionalize her and forget about her. Instead, her parents, along with an active parent support group which later became UCP of Central Minnesota , worked to create a school for their children. She was one of 10 children who had an opportunity to attend the Riverview School on the campus of St.Cloud State University in the 1950s. She also had a chance to have an education in an integrated setting beginning in the third grade, because of the efforts of the UCP of Central Minnesota. As a child Kathy endured several months long stays at Gillette Children's Hospital to surgically treat her CP.

Kathy received a college degree in sociology from the College of St.Scholastica and returned to the St.Cloud area where she persevered through a six year employment search until she wrote her own job description to create the first advocacy program for people with disabilities in the tri-county area. She has now been successfully employed for twenty five years, including her current position.

She was first hired at legal services by SCALS to be an SSI outreach worker and then was later hired by CMLS as the Volunteer Attorney Program coordinator. Kathy is very effective in getting lawyers to say yes to a pro bono case! Congratulations, Kathy. Your spirit and perseverance are evident on the job every day.