WOOLSON NAMED TO EASTER SEALS IOWA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

October 9, 2003 – Eric Woolson, the President/CEO of The Concept Works, Inc., has been selected to serve on the board of directors of Easter Seals Iowa.

Easter Seals Iowa is part of a nationwide network of separately incorporated affiliates that cumulatively represents the world's oldest and largest not-for-profit organization providing direct services to people with disabilities.  Easter Seals' network includes more than 100 state and local affiliates in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Although Easter Seals Iowa is affiliated with a national organization, it operates with a great degree of autonomy, with a board of directors comprised of individuals from throughout the state serving as its governing body. Since its inception in 1926 as the Iowa Society for Crippled Children, Easter Seals Iowa has earned a reputation as a leader in providing unique and responsive services to Iowans with disabilities of all ages.  Easter Seals Iowa is driven by its mission of  "creating solutions that change the lives of individuals with disabilities and other special needs and their families," and all of its programs and services have evolved out of this mission.

For 21 years, the National Health Council has ranked Easter Seals number one among its members nationally in the percentage of program dollars used to directly serve individuals.  Ninety cents of every dollar spent by Easter Seals Iowa in fiscal year 2001 directly benefited individuals served by our programs.  A small amount of each year's operating budget is paid to the national office to assist with management/training needs of the Iowa staff, technical assistance in the areas of program management and development, advocacy and governmental affairs.

Easter Seals Iowa operates from three locations: Easter Seals Camp Sunnyside, located several miles north of Des Moines, which houses camping, respite and recreation programs and farm family rehabilitation (FaRM) and durable medical equipment loan services; Easter Seals Center, located in Des Moines, which is the homebase for all vocational, employment, and case management services, as well as our wheelchair accessible apartment building;  Easter Seals Chalet Gifts, located on NE 14th Street in Des Moines, a retail outlet for home crafted items made by people with disabilities.

Staffing at Easter Seals includes nearly 100 full-time employees and approximately 75 seasonal employees employed in its camping and recreation programs.  Volunteers are extensively involved with Easter Seals last year more than 15,000  hours of service were donated by volunteers.

Woolson has been active with Easter Seals Iowa as a volunteer and paid public/government relations adviser since November 2001. He is also a member of the volunteer board of Iowans with Disabilities in Action, a campaign to empower Iowans with disabilities to assert their rights to participation in the political process. ID Action, promotes a range of activities from voter registration to issues advocacy on behalf of Iowans with disabilities.

Woolson founded The Concept Works in 2002. The West Des Moines firm specializes in public, media and governments relations and crisis management for Iowa corporations, nonprofit organizations and political campaigns.

For more information about Easter Seals Iowa, log onto http://ia.easter-seals.org/site.