Special to the Chronicle

The Palmetto Civitan Club honored a local couple for their community service work.

Dan & Lorri Unumb were recognized with the Civitan International Servant’s Heart Award Tuesday, Sept. 3 in Lexington.

The award is presented by local Civitan clubs in communities across North America in recognition of outstanding service to people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Dan and Lorri were nominated for their work with the Autism community.

Lorri’s passion to help South Carolina families who could not afford treatment for autism inspired her to author “Ryan’s Law” in 2005. Named in honor of their son, the law requires health insurance to cover autism treatment, including Applied Behavior Analysis.

The bill passed in June 2007. Now, every state has some sort of meaningful Autism therapy coverage due to Lorri’s tireless efforts.

Dan serves as the Founder and President of the Autism Legal Resource Center, which develops and protects the legal rights of people with autism and the providers who serve them.

The club also installed its new officers and celebrated their service to the Lexington community.

New officers and board members for the 2019-2020 year are:

• President – Emily Wright

• President-Elect – Angela Evans

• Treasurer – Deane Louise Greene

• Board Members – Bob Kim, Karen Brophy, Terri Washburn