Press Releases
Year
Safe Kids Champaign County Asks for Help As Car Seat Program Faces Critical Funding Challenges
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2007
Contact
Susan Butler, Coordinator / Health Educator – Safe Kids Champaign County / CUPHD
(217) 531-4268
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Safe Kids Champaign County Asks for Help As Car Seat Program Faces Critical Funding Challenges
Safe Kids Champaign County Partners with Toys R Us for Give-A-Seat for Safety Program – New Car Seat Donation Drive
Champaign, IL – Safe Kids Champaign County has partnered with Toys R Us to help provide low-income families with new car seats. Safe Kids Champaign County will be holding their annual new car seat drive on Saturday, October 13, 2007 from 9:00am – 1:00pm in the Toys R Us parking lot located at 40 East Anthony Drive in Champaign. Safe Kids Champaign County will be accepting all NEW car seats including Infant, Convertible, Combination and Booster. No used seats will be accepted.
Safe Kids Champaign County in collaboration with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) currently provides a Child Safety Seat Inspection Station at the Provena Pro Ambulance Center on 408 South Neil Street in Champaign twice a week.
This program provides free inspections and education on Child Passenger Safety to over 1800 Champaign County residents per year, and distributed 692 car seats to low-income families last year alone. The increased demands and costs of the inspection station are placing a strain on existing funding and require community assistance to maintain the current levels of service.
The mission of Safe Kids Champaign County is to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading killer of children ages 14 and under. Vehicle Safety is the major contributor to these injuries. Many children in Champaign County were the victims of an accidental childhood injury involving a vehicle last year. Most of these children survived these injuries due in part to Child Passenger Safety regulations. Safe Kids Champaign County checked 1167 car seats last year and found that the average misuse rate in Champaign County to be 86%.
“Parents are very concerned about the welfare of their children. No one wants their child to be placed in a potentially hazardous position, but modern car seats can be complicated and parents are encouraged to have their seats inspected and adjusted by professionals.” said Susan Butler, Coordinator and Health Educator at Safe Kids Champaign County/CUPHD. “The technicians and volunteers at our Child Safety Seat Inspection Station receive 32 hours of training to receive certification, and are required to be recertified every two years.”
For more information about Safe Kids Champaign County programs and services, and how you can donate to the Car Seat Program, visit us on the web at www.c-uphd.org/ccsafekids or call (217) 531-4268.
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Dr. Howard Elementary School Partners with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to Fight the National Crisis of Obesity in Children
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2007
Contact
Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator
(217) 531-2916
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Dr. Howard Elementary School Partners with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to Fight the National Crisis of Obesity in Children
Second Year of Partnership Promotes Progressive Healthy School Changes – Including Annual Fundraising Efforts
Champaign, IL – Dr. Howard Elementary School has partnered for the second year with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) in the implementation of the highly successful Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) Program. The CATCH Program is a multi-component program that promotes positive healthy behaviors in students and emphasizes the need for a healthy lifestyle to improved both living and learning. CATCH has three core components – nutrition, physical activity, and health education.
“CATCH is a fun, well-rounded program that affords students the ability to excel through a series of consistent messages from a variety of sources,” said Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator of Health Promotions for CUPHD. “CATCH builds an alliance of children, parents, teachers, and school staff to teach skills and behaviors associated with maintaining healthy lifestyles. Dr. Howard Elementary School has been a great partner and we look forward to building on our joint successes this year.”
In the spirit of CATCH, Dr. Howard Elementary School is incorporating the ideals of healthy living in all school functions, including this year’s annual fund-raiser. Dr. Howard Elementary students will be asking family members and friends to donate money to the Dr. Howard Walk-athon. On October 17, 2007, students will walk for 90 minutes to raise money for their school. Typically, schools sell assorted foods and merchandise to raise money for school programs. A leading product in these fundraising drives is candy. Dr. Howard Elementary does not wish to support “junk food habits”, and is excited by the walk-a-thon. Students will be showing that fitness is easy and fun while walking to raise funds.
“Our kids know what foods are and aren’t healthy, but we are sending them mixed messages when we promote candy sales at school,” said Wendy Starwalt, Teacher, Dr. Howard Elementary.
The Walk-a-thon is just one of several programs implemented by the CATCH partnership to promote a more healthy school environment. Dr. Howard Elementary has also started a walking club with foot charm incentives awarded for each mile a student has walked, and “Fitness Friday”, an interactive physical activity component that allows selected 5th graders to demonstrate fitness activities to lower grades and encourage increased participation by everyone.
For more information about CATCH and other CUPHD programs and services, please call 217352-7961 or visit us on the web at www.c-uphd.org.
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Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Creates Changes in Services to Better Serve Customers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2007
Contact
Candi Crause, Interim Director of Infectious Disease
(217) 531-5372 /
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Creates Changes in Services to Better Serve Customers
Adult Services and Division of Wellness & Health Promotions Develop Partnership to Increase Customer Satisfaction
Champaign, IL – Beginning October 1, 2007 the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) re-organized divisions to provide better services for CUPHD customers. The Division of Wellness & Health Promotions (previously Chronic Disease Prevention & Management) will now be conducting Adult Immunizations and Health Check Clinics, duties which until now were completed by Adult Services. The goal of this service expansion has been to decrease the wait time of CUPHD customers, while affording them the opportunity to access additional educational and prevention opportunities and information.
“At CUPHD, our customers are our primary concern,” said Candi Crause, Interim Director of Infectious Disease Prevention & Management for CUPHD. “We discovered that many customers require relatively quick procedures, such as immunizations or educational materials. Due to the appointment and “order of arrival” policies, these customers were required to wait while other customers ahead of them were assisted, often with lengthier procedures. This new partnership with the Division of Wellness & Health Promotions will help streamline these customers and increase customer satisfaction overall.”
Additional changes in Adult Services have included:
Expanded hours for TB Skin Testing: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 8:00am – 4:00pm
STD Testing will be available: Monday 4:00pm – 5:30pm (Men Only); Tuesday 1:00pm – 5:00pm; Thursday 9:00am – 11:00am & 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Pregnancy Testing will also be available: Monday 8:00am-5:30pm; Tuesday 8:00am-11:00am & 1:00pm-5:00pm; Wednesday 8:00am-4:00pm; Thursday 9:00am-11:00am & 1:00pm-3:00pm; Friday 8:00am-4:00pm
For more information about these and other CUPHD programs and services, please call 217-3527961 or visit us on the web at www.c-uphd.org.
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