Brenner receives Jefferson Award

Dan Brenner of Holton has received the Jefferson Award for his public and community service in northeast Kansas.

Each month since March of 2019, several businesses in northeast Kansas have awarded an area resident with the Jefferson Award, which honors “ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation or recognition.”

In 1972, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard founded the American Institute for Public Service to establish a Nobel Prize for public and community service – The Jefferson Awards.

“It’s an honor,” Brenner said of the Jefferson Award. “My wife, Marcia, deserves this honor as well. She always there alongside me in everything we do. She’s a great support.”

The Brenners have owned and operated Diamonds by Design Inc. in Topeka for 20 years.

Through the years, Brenner has served on several boards and organizations including the Holton Community Hospital Board, the Holton Community Hospital Foundation Board, Ronald McDonald Charities, Friends of Banner Creek, American Cancer Society, Highland College Alumni Board, First United Methodist Church, Holton Main Street, Better Business Bureau, USD 501 Youth Friends and Youth Friends mentor and Credit Union One of Kansas. 

The Brenners have also supported the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and many other organizations.

Brenner estimated that he and Marcia have donated “tens of thousands” of dollars’ worth of jewelry for fund-raising activities through the years.

It’s also not uncommon for Brenner, known to many as “Diamond Dan” from the store’s Superman-themed commercials, to dress up in his Superman costume for fund-raising events.

Brenner has also served on the Holton City Commission for the past seven years and he was sworn in as a Jackson County Commissioner in January. 

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