Malcolm Fraser Community Service
Award Presented in Memphis

By Cara Donahue

Each year the Malcolm Fraser Community Service Award is presented by the Mid-South Conference on Communicative Disorders to an individual in the Memphis community as a tribute to a man who contributed greatly to the field of communicative disorders, namely in the field of stuttering.

Malcolm Fraser, together with his brother, was one of the early founders of the NAPA Genuine Parts Company in Atlanta in 1928.  He used the money from auto parts stock to start the Stuttering Foundation of America.  Today the Foundation reaches people in 126 countries, and Mr. Fraser’s book, Self Therapy for the Stutterer, has helped countless numbers of people who struggle with stuttering.

The Malcolm Fraser Community Service Award honors his many accomplishments and unselfishness and is given to an individual who like Mr. Fraser has made a significant contribution to the field of communication disorders.

This year’s award recipient, Cindy Myers, as the mother of a child with special needs, is an advocate for not only her daughter, but other children with disabilities in the Memphis area who are also communicatively delayed.

A few years ago, Cindy created both a social skills group and a Sunday School group at Hope Presbyterian Church as a way to give these children the opportunity to build communication skills.  Laura Martin and several University of Memphis speech pathology students commented, “Cindy has shown passion and commitment while organizing these programs. She has spent countless hours working to provide children with an accepting environment where they can develop communication skills at their own pace.”

Cindy’s selfless attitude and dedication exemplify the ideals consistent with Mr. Fraser’s.