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Our Mission
The Columbia Parkinson's Support Group (also known as CPSG) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) of the State of South Carolina. The mission of the Columbia Parkinson's Support Group is to provide the Parkinson's Community with a safe environment to obtain SUPPORT, INFORMATION, EDUCATION, create AWARENESS about Parkinson's Disease, and FUND RAISING to further research for the cure of Parkinson's Disease.
(Note:
The Parkinson's Community can consist of Parkinson Disease (PD) patients, their caregivers / care-partners, family members, friends, and any others who are working in related fields or have an interest in Parkinson's disease.)
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Meet Our Officers and Board Members
The Columbia Parkinson's Support Group is operated and run by volunteers who are Parkinson patients themselves, caregivers & care partners of Parkinson patients, or people who have an interest in and support Parkinson's disease. The Officers and Board Members volunteer their time, receiving no compensation or salaries.
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Dottie Gantt
President
Photo by Dennis Baker
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Carol Baker
Vice President - Secretary - Treasurer - Program Chairperson
Photo by Dennis Baker |
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Dottie Gantt is the President. She is retired, having worked as a research engineer with Bell Labs at Alcatel/Lucent. She majored in Business at the University of South Carolina; and majored in Computer Science Engineering at Kansas State University. Dottie is a care-partner with her husband, who is a Parkinson's patient. She is very interested in providing a safe support system for the Parkinson community; helping to provide education and awareness about Parkinson's disease throughout the state of South Carolina and its citizens. |
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Carol Baker is the Vice President / Secretary / Treasurer / Program Chair. She is retired, having worked at the University of South Carolina in Financial Aid, processing guaranteed student loans; and
she worked at "Do It Best" as an Administrative
Assistant in payroll and insurance.
As a Parkinson's patient, Carol wants to assist other Parkinson patients in their search for information, resources, and empowerment about Parkinson's.
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Jenny Barber
Vice President - Co-Publicity Chair
Photo provided by Jenny Barber |
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Karen Co-Publicity Chair
Photo provided by Karen Basso
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Jenny Barber is a Vice President and Co-Publicity Chair. She is a Registered Nurse (RN) and Occupational Health Nursing Certificate (OHNC). She is employed as Director of Marketing with Right At Home (a home healthcare provider). While working in the healthcare profession, Jenny is interested in helping Parkinson Patients and their caregivers find assistance for a better quality of life. |
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Karen is Co-Publicity Chair. Karen is Senior Vice President and one of the principals of the Preferred Group. Preferred is an insurance and reinsurance brokerage and consulting firm headquartered in Columbia, SC. Karen is a care partner with her husband, Derek, who is a Parkinson’s patient. She is very interested in promoting education and research about Parkinson’s Disease and helping to provide a mutual support system for the members of the Parkinson’s community. |
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Dr. Ben Herz
Member of the Board
and Medical Advisor
Photo Courtesy of Medical College of Georgia |
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Dennis Baker
Member of the Board
and Official Photographer
Photo by Dottie Gantt |
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| Dr. Ben Herz is a Member of the Board and Medical Advisor. Dr. Ben Herz is the Program Director and Assistant Professor in the MCG School of Allied Health Sciences Department of Occupational Therapy. He attended Creighton University, majoring in Occupational Therapy. He has many patients who have Parkinson's. He has also done research on study of the Nintendo Wii as an occupational therapy treatment for Parkinson's disease. |
Dennis Baker is a Member of the Board and our Photographer. He is retired from working for the South Carolina Electric & Gas Company. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park, majoring in Nuclear Science. Dennis is a care partner with his wife who is a Parkinson patient. He wants to help provide information and resources to other caregivers of Parkinson patients. |
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Affiliations
The Columbia Parkinson's Support Group is a non-profit organization and is not an affiliated with any other organization.
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History
The Columbia Parkinson's Support Group has a long history of an active, growing membership.
In January 1985, W. G. Rainey and a small group of individuals started the group because they felt there was a need for a support group for Parkinson's patients, their caregivers, and anyone who had an interest in Parkinson's disease within the community. The group was formed on March 20, 1985. For many years the group met wherever they could find a meeting place in the Columbia mid-lands area.
In 2001, the group was recognized by the Lexington Medical Center (LMC) as a community support group. While our support group is not a part of LMC, for many years they graciously allowed us to hold our meetings in their classrooms. Eventually our support group grew large enough that they moved us into the Lexington Medical Center Park 1 Auditorium. Thank you Lexington Medical Center for your continued support and allowing us to meet on your facilities!
In 2008, the Columbia Parkinson's Support Group became the first Parkinson's support group in the state to be recognized by South Carolina Lieutenant Governor's Office on Aging as part of their SC Access program.
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Join us at the "Parkinson Round Table" blog
The "Parkinson Round Table" blog was created to provide a place for conversation, discussion, and exchange of information about Parkinson's disease (PD) and related topics. We invite anyone who has an interest in Parkinson's disease to gather around the virtual table. Bring a cup of coffee, tea or whatever; and join us. You can come dressed-up, in your pajamas, or whatever. You can come any time of the day or night. We don't care how or when you come. We just want you to have a place where you can relax and share in the conversation about living with Parkinson's. Click here to join us at the "Parkinson Round Table"
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Why do you have the red tulip as part of your logo? For the answer click here
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Duncan
Our Official Mascot
Photo by Dr. Ben Herz |
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Meet Duncan
Duncan is the official mascot of the Columbia Parkinson's Support Group. In his photo, Duncan is wearing one of our Parkinson Awareness Buttons.
Duncan says "Wuff Woooof" --- (Translation - He wants everyone to work towards helping to find a cure for Parkinson's Disease!) |
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Why is Duncan your mascot?
Duncan has an interest in Parkinson's disease. Duncan liked his very first visit to the Columbia Parkinson's Support Group meeting; and he become a member of the group by signing our membership list with his paw print. Whenever he can, Duncan says that he will be attending and participating at our support group meetings. Duncan is cute, cuddly, and very well-behaved. We appreciate Duncan's membership.
We will be featuring photo's of Duncan on several of our web pages.
Duncan says - "Woof" "Woooof" "Arff" "Woof" --- ( Translation - Please come and attend our support group meetings.)
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