Each year, ACTION Health conducts an Awards & Community Recognition Banquet to honor community partners that have made a significant contribution to one or more programs conducted in the past year. The banquet began in 2007 and recognized those individuals, agencies and programs that made a significant contribution throughout the calendar year of 2006. Each year afterwards, ACTION Health has held this banquet in March or April to recogize exemplary community partners from the last calendar year.  These community partners can include:

• Program sites: which have provided space at no charge, provided in-kind support that benefited the program, provided program promotion and/or participant recruitment
• Program presenters or speakers: which have provided their presentation at no charge, the presentation is not part of their regular job responsibilities and/or provided in-kind support that benefited the program
• Others, including: people/organizations that assist in program development; people/organizations that assist in program implementation; people/organizations/programs that provide some other type of significant assistance to the agency, a task force or program

The 4^th annual ACTION Health Awards & Community Recognition Banquet was held on Thursday, April 15, 2010. 14 Exemplary Community Partner Awards were presented under one of our 4 current task force groups.

See pictures from the event by clicking here: 4th_Annual_Awards_&_Community_Recognition_Banquet_Pictures

The award recipients are listed here, along with the nomination script that is read at the Banquet, which describes their accomplishments and contributions from 2009.

Aging & Wellness Task Force:

Angela Furca, RN, MSN

“Angela Furca is a health care provider who goes above and beyond to not only treat her patients, but help to prevent some of the most serious illnesses affecting adults today. She is a caring, compassionate registered Nurse for 20 years at Shamokin Area Community Hospital and worked with our Aging & Wellness Task Force last Spring to provide 2 educational sessions on Heart Healthy Choices. Her informative presentations provided a wide array of information on how to reduce risk factors related to cardiovascular disease. Ms. Furca had a keen sense of her audience and was able to provide valuable information in a way that could be easily understood by all. She provided hands-on activities, which allowed the audience to interact and becometruly engaged with her presentation. We are so thankful to Ms. Furca for taking the time to educate the community, on top of her busy schedule of patient care and continuing education towards becoming a certified nurse practitioner.”

Michael Marino, DO

“Dr. Michael Marino generously provided his time and expertise in providing a Sleep Disorders educational program to area residents. His in-depth presentation was extremely informative, engaging, and full of the latest information to help individuals understand many of the respiratory and related health issues that can affect healthy sleep. Dr. Marino paid careful attention to health literacy issues and insured that the information provided was understandable for the community. He welcomed individual questions and even provided a guided tour of the sleep lab for those individuals that may need those services. This approach helped alleviate participants fears related to sleep studies and empoweredthem with new knowledge to improve their health and well-being. Dr. Marino is a caring, compassionate advocate for his patients and we are fortunate to have him providing care in our communities.”

Nifty after Fifty: Mature Lifestyles Health Fair

“So many of us in public health have had the opportunity to participate in community health fairs. These events offer an opportunity to provide health information to a large number of community residents. But what we may not consider is the extensive planning and time commitment that goes into organizing these events. Today we’d like to recognize all those individuals that work for months in advance to organize the Nifty After Fifty event, which is a Mature Lifestyles Fair sponsored by the Bloomsburg Hospital and held each May at the Columbia Mall. Individuals from Bloomsburg Hospital, The Columbia/Montour Aging office, the Press Enterprise, the Columbia Mall and other local health organizations team-up to plan this event each year. This event is a terrific example of what a small group of individuals can accomplish when they work together. We are thankful for the time and effort they put into this Fair each year because it gives all of us a wonderful opportunity to honor and educate mature adults in our community.”

Cancer Task Force

AmeriCorps Program

“Our first Cancer Task Force award recipient is for a national program that has made significant contributions in our local area. The AmeriCorps program, which locally is managed by the Union/Snyder Community Action Agency in Selinsgrove, is a service oriented program that brings volunteers to local community organization. These volunteers receive a living stipend and educational award from the AmeriCorps program. But what they give back to our community is immeasurable. For several years now, ACTION Health has had the wonderful opportunity to have AmeriCorps volunteers working at our agency. And I can’t say enough positive things about this program, about the phenomenon volunteers we have each year, and about the terrific individuals that run the program. Dennis Huratiak, Program Director and Robyn Rinck, Resource Director, work very hard to make sure the agencies and volunteers have a positive experience in the AmeriCorps program. One of the many things they do is organize educational opportunities during the monthly AmeriCorps convening. This year, they welcomed the ACTION Health Cancer Task Force to provide education about HPV and Cervical Cancer. We are thankful for all they do and for their ability to recognize the importance of health education for their AmeriCorps members.”

Bloomsburg University Psychology Association

“The Psychology Association of Bloomsburg University stepped up to the challenge of assisting and promoting an HPV and cervical cancer educational event last Fall. Members of the Association assisted the task force with various components of the program implementation, including site coordination, promotions and participant recruitment. In addition, through annual fundraisers and student dues, the Psychology Association also financially supported the event. Their sponsorship enabled us to provide the much coveted ‘free pizza’ and other food that drew a very large crowd of hungry college students to the event. The other large draw to the event was a remarkable level of advocacy from the faculty liaison for the Psychology Association, Dr. Mary Katherine Duncan. She worked with numerous professors on campus to promote the importance of the event and encourage their students to attend, as well as offer their students academic incentives for their attendance. In addition, Greg Gillam, President of the Psychology Association, was on-hand the night of the event to assist with student sign-ups and help make the event a success. The Psychology Association recognized the importance of both women AND men increasing their understanding of this important topic and have pledged their support in replicating this event annually.”

Northern Appalachia Community Cancer Network

“Small community organizations can accomplish many things. But without academic partnerships, such as the one that the Cancer Task Force has with the Northern Appalachia Community Cancer Network, some things would be very challenging. One of those challenges is getting the results of our research-based-programs published in a peer-reviewed journal. But this year, we accomplished this task through the tremendous assistance of several faculty members from the NACN, which is based at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and is part of the Department of Public Health Sciences. Dr. Gene Lengerich and Dr. Brenda Kluhsman provided countless hours of writing, analyzing, and rewritingto eventually enable our 2008 HPV research to be published in the April 2009 issue of Preventing Chronic Disease, a peer-reviewed journal of the CDC. The long standing partnership our Cancer Task Force has had with NACN has enabled us to provide research-based programming in our community and measure and analyze the outcomes of those programs.”

Northumberland county Resource Family Association

“ACTION Health strives to provide programming to many different audiences and groups of individuals in our community, including children, adults, families, minorities and seniors. But many of us at ACTION Health recognize that the most challenging group of people to recruit to programs is working parents. Many of us working in public health are in this category and we know how limited our time can be. So we are most grateful when we identify a community partner, such as the Northumberland county Resource Family Association, that has made it a priority to promote health education to families in this area. In 2009, we had the opportunity to provide 4 educational programs to parents in Northumberland county, through the assistance of Dennis Bender at the Resource Family Association. These programs, including cervical cancer & HPV, were a welcome opportunity for us to provide health education to this hard-to-reach population of working parents and we’re so grateful to the Association for making this a priority.”

Community Wellness Task Force

John Jaramillo, MD

“This award recipient is a unique individual who has made significant contributions to the programs and projects of our Community Wellness Task Force. Dr. John Jaramillo recently retired from medicine to travel a new path in life. He has traded in his stethoscope and white coat for a trowel and gardening gloves to become an organic farmer. This new career shows Dr. Jaramillo’s passion for teaching the community about the importance of healthy eating and using diet and exercise as a primary tool to help prevent and treat disease. He has worked directly with our task force to provide educational programs on nutrition and diabetes. In addition, he was the driving force behind our new Food Bank initiative, which aims to increase donations of locally grown, fresh produce to Food Banks. This project was featured on the front page of the Daily Item and is in its 2nd year of advocating with local growers to donate their excess to individuals in our community that need it the most.”

Joan Miller, PhD, RN, CRNP

“Dr. Joan Miller donated a tremendous amount of time and effort to present a series of Advanced Diabetes Management programs in the coal region last Spring. As a University educator and health care professional, Dr. Miller works everyday to empower tomorrow’s health care providers with the skills and compassion necessary to provide excellent patient care. She brings the same level of compassion and expertise that she shows in her University teaching to the community members attending these programs. Dr. Miller is truly engaged when speaking to the community and is always willing to answer participant questions. She is very personable and easy to talk with and understand, making her a terrific community educator. In addition, Dr. Miller has been an advocate in increasing the partnership and volunteerism from the Nursing department. Through her efforts, 3 more faculty members have joined various ACTION Health task forces and we continue to partner with the department for various programs and events.”

Kelley Morrison, CQIA, MAOM

“We all know those go-to people in our community that are involved in so many things, but are still willing to lend a helping hand. One of these great go-getters is Kelley Morrison. Ms. Morrison has been involved in numerous ACTION Health projects in 2009 and her cheerful, positive outlook has always made it a tremendous pleasure to work with her. Ms. Morrison was instrumental in organizing, promoting and recruiting participants to the Diabetes classes that were presented by on of our other award recipients, Dr. Miller. In addition, Ms. Morrison played a key-role in the Heart Healthy programs of the Aging & Wellness Task Force by organizing free cholesterol screenings at the hospital and taking care of participant sign-ups and follow-ups. She also worked diligently to recruit both health care providers and community residents to an Ask Me 3 program. And the list goes on when Ms. Morrison helped to organize and promote the PennSIVE study we conducted last year. So with such a lengthy list, it’s clear that Kelley Morrison has been an active, engaged and terrific task force member and we are so grateful for all her assistance and support.”

Deb Ross, RN, MSN

“This award recipient has shown great care and concern for the students at L.R. Appleman Elementary School in the Benton School District. Deb Ross worked with ACTION Health and the Penn State Cooperative Extension last Spring to coordinate a Family Fitness program, which teaches nutrition and physical activity to children at risk of being overweight. Ms. Ross was a great advocate for the program with the school district, children and parents. She not only helped to identify students that would benefit from the program, but she also carried out key-components of the program, such as taking BMI measurements and reporting data back to the program coordinators. Ms. Ross has also been an advocate for other health programs in the district, such as dental health and My Pyramid programs. Through Ms. Ross’s support and assistance, students and families in the Benton area have received numerous health education programs and are more knowledgeable about healthy lifestyle choices.”

Southern Columbia Area Middle School

“We each recognize the importance of teachers and educators in the lives of our children. But sometimes, we meet educators that not only impact the lives of the children in their school, but can also generate positive change throughout a community. Last year, Anthony Pecora’s 6th grade science class was learning about the Endocrine system and a very brief discussion of diabetes was also included in the lesson. A certain ACTION Health staff person’s daughter was in the class and came home to tell her about what they had learned. That same ACTION Health staff person contacted Mr. Pecora to findout what additional information could be provided to the students on the important topic of diabetes. This simple inquiry led to the development of a completely new, interactive diabetes education program specifically designed for middle schoolers. Mr. Pecora recognized the growing epidemic related to diabetes and through the support received from Roger Nunkester, principal of the middle school, the entire 6th grade class received this new educational program. They also generously provided support and guidance through the development of the program, as well as allocated precious class time. But the remarkable aspect of this story is many other schools have now benefited from this program and are continuing to schedule it annually. We are truly grateful for the support and guidance received from Anthony and Roger at Southern Columbia Area Middle School.”

 Dental Task Force

Evangelical Community Hospital’s Children’s Health Fair

“Community Health Education at Evangelical Community Hospital says they are devoted to prevention, early intervention and health education. They truly live up to their motto everyday. A terrific example of this is the enormously popular and successful annual Children’s Health Fair. It is fitting that we are recognizing this event that occurred in January 2009, since that year Evangelical Community Hospital celebrated their 20th year in conducting this important health event. This event is important to the community for many reasons. What other event can a community organization attend and be able to provide health education to over 1,000 children in 1 day? What other event can a parent attend to learn about all the programs and services that are available to them? What other event can sustain its vitality, interest and timeliness for 20 years in a row? The Children’s Health Fair is truly remarkable because it is the answer to all of these questions. It is only possible because of the strong commitment provided by the Hospital and the dedication, caring and hard-work of the Community Health Education staff.”

Snyder Union Mifflin Child Development

“This award recipient is an agency that provides a wide-range of programs and services to children in our area. But their service to children and families doesn’t stop at the end of their program list. Instead, they have pledged their support to the ACTION Health Dental Task Force for many years now. The best example of this support is their generous allocation of staff time to work on our dental task force, provide school programs and participate in other events conducted by our task force. Another terrific example of their commitment to children is seen in their compassionate, caring and professional staff. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Michele Hill and Holly Lehman on our Dental Task Force. We are so thankful, not only for Michele and Holly, but for the support that their agency provides in allowing these busy employees to be extremely involved with the Dental task force.”