Knights of Columbus members across Plymouth County are geared up to "Answer the Call" for the 29th annual KC Phonothon for Persons with Disabilities set for Wednesday, Sept. 3. Callers will staff phone banks from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., all working toward a goal of $45,000.

Ninety percent of the money raised stays in Plymouth County and goes to Life Skills Training Center., Inc., a non-profit agency providing job skills training to persons with disabilities from Plymouth County and the surrounding area. The remaining 10 percent of the funds raised goes to the Iowa Special Olympics.

The KC's from Le Mars, Remsen, Kingsley, Akron, Hinton and Merrill will be asking area residents to "answer the call."

Lloyd Harpenau of Remsen has been selected as Honorary Chair in Memorium of this year's Plymouth County KC Phonothon. Harpenau served as chair of the Remsen Phonothon in 1990 and 1991 and assisted for many years following that. He died Friday, July 18, 2008. "The Phonothon was a big thing in Lloyd's life," said his wife Janice. "He really enjoyed doing it."

Harpenau was a 4th Degree Knight, Garrigan Council and financial secretary of the Remsen Knights of Columbus.His dedication to the Phonothon serves as an inspiration to others.

The staff and clients at Life Skills Training Center know how important the phonothon is.

It costs Life Skills $3,850 per day to open the doors and provide programs and services as well maintain the building.

"There are always needs," said Exeuctive Director Don Nore. For example: additional funds are needed to go with LOST grant money to replace windows, two new air conditioner units are needed, 20 laundry carts need replacement at a cost of $200 each, Z-racks for hanging uniforms are needed, eight new fluorescent light fixtures are also needed, numerous rental mats which are reaching the end of useful life need replacement.

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The old plumbing will eventually need to be replaced as well to accommodate the volume of water used to process linen. In 2007, Life Skills used more than eight million gallons of water. The plumbing in the building is old and a water problem means a shut down of operations making it impossible to process linen in a timely manner. Hospitals and nursing homes need to have linen processed within 24 hours.

"Equipment is as important to our mission of training people with disabilities as textbooks are to students" according to Nore. He continued, "Through the processing of linen, clients are learning job skills such as following directions, getting along with supervisors and co-workers and staying on task."

Donating to the KC Phonothon helps people who live right here in Plymouth County, Nore said.

Last year, Life Skills provided over 60,000 hours of training to persons with disabilities. The people who work/train at Life Skills earn a training wage and the majority of that income is spent within our community. If there were no Life Skills Training Center, persons with disabilities would have to be sent out of county to receive services which in turn would cost Plymouth County taxpayers nearly three times more. It would be similar to sending a student to college out of state which costs more.