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With over 60 vendors, there were resources for
people of all ages and plenty to see and do.
The Wellness Expo is co-sponsored by Logan County Department of
Public Health and ALMH Community Health Collaborative, as well as
the Park District, and each group had several exhibitors providing
information on health and wellness resources in addition to healthy
habits and healthy living strategies.
This year’s theme was GO, SLOW, and WHOA your way to health.
Most of the 3,200 area schoolchildren involved in the Coordinated
Approach to Child Health (CATCH) program would be able to tell you
it is important to eat more “GO foods than SLOW foods” and more
“SLOW foods than WHOA foods.”
The Go foods are healthy foods like vegetables and fruits, Slow
foods are foods like graham crackers and pretzels, and Whoa foods
are unhealthy foods like French fries and cookies.
Physical activity is another important part of healthy living. To
keep people active, the Lincoln Park District (1X2A5164) offers a
variety of fitness classes. February 25, their Spring into Action
exercise class will begin.
As guests walked in the front door, they were given a bag to hold
the goodies handed out by vendors. They were also given a sheet with
ten trivia questions to answer about the Coordinated Approach to
Child Health (CATCH) program as they went around to vendors’ tables.
Once all questions were answered correctly, the sheet could be
turned in for a chance to win a light weight, versatile Microsoft
Surface Pro tablet, one of several door prizes donated by area
businesses.
Think First of SIU School of Medicine gave away 20 bike helmets to
encourage bike safety and help children avoid head injuries that may
occur if they are in a bike accident.
As in previous years, there were free health screenings for
cholesterol, blood pressure, blood typing, and hemoglobin, and more.
Large inflatables offered kids a chance to climb, bounce, slide,
crawl through tunnels allowing them to burn some energy and get some
exercise at the same time.
C010 + C011 – C014
Cooking demonstrations were offered by the “Crazy CATCH lady” Angela
Whiteman, and by Heather Klopp-Cosby of Flossie and Delzena’s, with
free samples handed out at the end of the demonstration.
Prescription and over the counter medications, cell phone, hearing
aids, eyeglasses, plastic bags, printer cartridges, and pop tabs
could be dropped off for recycling at the Wellness Expo. Mandy
Cordray helps area schools set up recycling and in Emden, she
collected over 148,196 containers of recyclables this past year.
Vendors advertising resources geared especially to
seniors included:
The Oasis Senior Center,
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The Alzheimer’s Association,
Community Action’s Senior Nutrition program,
The Christian Village,
Timber Creek Village,
St. Clara’s Manor and Castle Manor,
The Hearing Aid Center, and Audibel.
Registered nurses Chrissy and Teresa were there to provide
information about Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital’s Swing Bed
program. The program offers extended rehabilitation in the hospitals
to help patients avoid a nursing home stay for rehabilitation.
Rehabilitation, wound care, IV or injection treatments, physical,
occupational, and speech therapy are among the services offered in
this program, which will also accept people who were in other
hospitals.
For people with special healthcare needs,
Illinois HIV Care Connect
The American Cancer Society,
SIU Medicine Simmons Cancer Institute,
Memorial Home Services Hospice program,
and the Epilepsy Foundation can help with resources.
Those interested in healthcare careers could talk to the exhibitors
at Memorial Health System’s Hands on Health Care, a community
program that helps people learn more about these careers as they go
to different stations in an interactive setting.
Among resources for families is Chestnut Health Systems (CHS), which
offers substance abuse and mental health treatment services, and has
offices in Bloomington and Normal. CHS encourages parents to talk to
children about alcohol use and social issues because some children
are trying alcohol by age nine. Parents need to take action by
developing rules about alcohol use in the home. Children need to
understand that drinking during their teenage years can damage their
brains that are not yet fully developed.
Lincoln College’s Eco Lynx Club is trying to make the college more
ecologically friendly by getting Styrofoam out of the cafeteria and
placing several recycling bins around the campus. The club also
promotes Lincoln as a Tree City, part of the Arbor Day Foundation.
Members of the club help at the college’s Creekside Nature Center.
Many are Conservation Biology majors and conservation biology is
about maintaining the world.
Throughout the day at the Wellness Expo, adults and children had an
opportunity to stop at these vendors and many others to learn more
about healthy living and other resources.
[Angela Reiners] |
