KAY LINGENFELTER AND Kelli Coble have been justly honored for services they should never have had to provide.
Lingenfelter, you see, has spent more than 20 years working with SOS on behalf of abused women. Coble is an Emporia State University student who volunteers with SOS as a child advocate and works with teens from broken homes during the summer.
ESU honored both on Wednesday afternoon. Lingenfelter received the Mary Headrick award, given to those who help women reach their full potential. Coble was given a $1,000 Susan B. Anthony scholarship for her own involvement.
Both women deserve all the praise they can get. Emporia is stronger for their presence. But their recognition is also a challenge to the rest of us.
That’s because the problems they’re fighting haven’t gone away.
Last year, the United Nations reported that one in three women around the world will be abused sometime during their lifetime. Just two years ago, 872,000 children in the U.S. were determined to have been abused, more than 60 percent by their parents or other caregivers, according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.
More grim numbers could be cited, but the point is made. This is a lifetime problem. One that requires all of us. We may never eliminate it, but we can surely make it better than it is.
These two women have stepped up to the plate. They’ve fought the good fight for human respect and dignity at its most basic levels.
Who’s ready to give them a hand?