Voters nationwide are nominating their picks for 6th Annual Volvo for life Awards and one of the semifinalists is an Iowa woman being recognized for promoting farm safety and health. Marilyn Adams has been selected as one of the nation’s top 40 heroes for her creation of a non-profit organization that works to educate children about farm safety and health.
Twenty years ago, Marilyn Adams faced every mother’s greatest fear. Her eleven-year old son, Keith, suffocated in a gravity flow wagon while helping with the first full day of harvest on the family’s farm in Iowa. Determined to find a constructive outlet for her grief, she was inspired to create a non-profit organization working to educate children about farm safety and health. Today, thousands of volunteers across the United States and Canada work to keep rural kids safe and healthy. Adams is now in the running to be named “America’s Greatest Hometown Hero” in the 6th Annual Volvo for life Awards — an annual, nationwide search for real-life heroes across America.
In 1987, Adams founded Farm Safety 4 Just Kids and set out on a mission to promote safe farm environments and eliminate farm-related child health hazards, injuries and fatalities. A report by the National Safety Council found that children between the ages of five and 14 were 66 percent more likely to be injured in a farm accident than adults aged 45 to 64.
Farm Safety 4 Just Kids’ contribution to the farm safety movement has helped to reduce the number of agriculture-related fatalities among children in the United States. Farm families now have additional programs and educational materials highlighting the dangers that children can encounter on farms, and information about how to avoid them. Farm Safety 4 Just Kids now has 137 chapters throughout North America. Through her visits to rural schools, media appearances, testimony before government agencies and in Congress, Adams has spread her farm safety message across the country.
Forty semi-finalists have been selected. You can vote for the final winners at www.volvoforlifeawards.com. Three finalists will receive $100,000 charitable contributions and the grand prize winner receives a Volvo car every three years for life.