During the months when she was campaigning across the country, she was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Mental Health, honored by the National Organization for Women with an Award of Merit for her vigorous support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Southwestern Association of Volunteer Services. Also in 1975, she was photographed shaking hands with serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was active in his local Democratic Party.