Each year it is our pleasure to select Dynamic Chiropractic's "Doctor (or Person) of the Year." When we looked back on the 26 issues of 2001, we were struck by the number of times Kent Greenawalt, president of Foot Levelers, Inc., graced our front page.
Kent Greenawalt is a worthy successor to his father, Monte Greenawalt,DC, who embarked on a chiropractic career in 1948 in Dubuque, Iowa, and founded Foot Levelers four years later. Both father and son have received numerous awards and recognition. The Greenawalts were our "1997 Philanthropists of the Year" (they shared the honors with William Harris,DC, and NCMIC.)
The Greenawalt legacy of chiropractic philanthropy, passed from father to son, enables us to proudly name Kent Greenawalt Dynamic Chiropractic's "Person of the Year."
The contributions by Kent Greenawalt and Foot Levelers to the chiropractic profession have been remarkable:
National Chiropractic Promotion
Toward the end of 2001, Kent Greenawalt announced that in early 2002, in conjunction with the company's 50th year in business, Foot Levelers would allocate substantial funding for a public relations campaign intended to expand public awareness of the benefits of chiropractic. Included in this effort will be chiropractic professionals, marketing experts and a large, independent public relations firm. Consumer magazines, newspapers and wire services will be the primary targets of the PR effort.
"There is a void in today's media coverage of chiropractic, and we plan to do our part to fill it," said Kent Greenawalt. "Only one in 10 Americans visits a chiropractor, and we want the other nine to become patients. We are successful today because of chiropractors supporting Foot Levelers and, as always, Foot Levelers is going to do all we can to support chiropractic." Mr. Greenawalt added: "Our goal in launching this campaign is to do our own small part to advance the chiropractic profession and help more people benefit form receiving chiropractic care."
The PR campaign will emphasize "whole-body wellness" and explain to the public how chiropractors can help patients with many common problems.
"Chiropractic is health care's best-kept secret," Mr. Greenawalt said. "We are trying to change all that."
"It (the PR campaign) is sure to be the catalyst that will get people to pick up the phone for an appointment," said one public relations consultant working with the campaign.
Relief Efforts
On September 14, Foot Levelers announced a matching-fund campaign for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief effort. "At first, the contributions came in from individuals," noted Mr. Greenawalt. "But then a ripple effect started to happen. As the word got out, leaders in the chiropractic community started making collections doing the same thing - they challenged the people around them with matching as well - so that every dollar was doubly matched."
Donations received by Foot Levelers totaled $508,522.11. The donations came from national chiropractic associations; state chiropractic associations; chiropractic colleges; elementary schools; chiropractic clinics; practice management firms; civic groups; church groups; families; and more - some 2,000 contributors.
"I wish that I could have somehow bottled up this feeling of unity to share at our next chiropractors' conference," observed Mr. Greenawalt. "When we started the campaign, I knew if any group in America could help, it would be the people in the chiropractic community. And I'm affirmed by what we have witnessed. It was tremendous to see chiropractors emerge as leaders in their communities."
Giving Back to the Colleges
For years Foot Levelers has been holding license-renewal seminars in conjunction with a number of chiropractic colleges. Kent Greenawalt and Foot Levelers are celebrating the company's half-century of doing business with a series of 37 seminars in 28 states in partnership with six chiropractic colleges: New York Chiropractic College; the Parker College of Chiropractic; Northwestern Health Sciences University; the National University of Health Sciences; Cleveland Chiropractic College; and the Palmer College of Chiropractic. Proceeds from the seminars will be donated to the six participating colleges.
A national chiropractic PR campaign, relief fund efforts, and the continuation of donating the proceeds of license-renewal seminars to the colleges - we think you'll agree it's an impressive record!
Please join us in congratulating Kent Greenawalt for his many outstanding accomplishments for chiropractic and celebrating his being named our "2001 Person of the Year."
