With school starting and more cooling summer rains these days, we look forward to taking advantage of every opportunity to get outdoors while summer lasts!    

Sunshine Gardens' Great Activity Director "Heather" 

By: Laddie John

I feel I should write an article about Heather. She does so many things for us residents here at Sunshine Gardens. Here are just a few ways that she contributes.  

She prints out a weekly "Activity Calendar" for us each week.  She is in charge of the scheduled activities such as: Bingo, Poker, Yahtzee, Entertainment, Happy Hour, Monthly Birthday Parties, and Ice Cream Social. She takes different residents on walks. It is her Walking Club. She goes to a lot of the resident's rooms to remind them of the activity.

She takes us to Wal-Mart once a week. She helps the driver secure the wheelchairs or scooters for our safety. She helps those who need help while shopping. She loads our purchases on the bus and when we get back home she unloads them and puts them on the table for us to pick up. If someone needs help getting them to their home she does it for them.

She takes us, those who want to go, out to eat at a restaurant about once a month. We have gone to such places as Applebee's, Cristina's, Steamworks, Fiesta Mexicana, Denny's and others.

My Compliments

By: Lou Gans

I extend my compliments to Heather Downing who prepares the weekly activity schedule. If you hadn't noticed what she did, she inserted the weekly menu schedule on the back side of the activity schedule (thanks to Chef Jody as well for his preparation of it). It's a great convenience and all the Sunshine Gardens residents owe her a word of thanks. I did and so should you.

Picnic at Santa Rita Park

By: Laddie John

On July 17th a group of nine residents boarded the bus to be taken to Santa Rita Park for a picnic. The bus was really loaded because most of the residents that went needed their walkers. The walkers fill the whole isle.

We had: chicken fingers, corn-on-the-cob, baked beans, bread, and watermelon for dessert. The food was prepared by Jody, the Sunshine Garden's chef. We were all grateful for the food and its preparation.

It was a beautiful day, with blue skies filled with white fluffy clouds and a cool breeze. A good time was had by all. Ben, a staff member, happened by on his bicycle and helped Heather.

Heather, you have done a great job as always.

Recognizing National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM)   

Thanks to: Centers for Disease Control  

While CDC does not sponsor this month, CDC does support and encourage the efforts of state and local health departments and other immunization partners to celebrate NIAM and use this month to promote back to school immunizations, remind college students to catch up immunizations before they move into dormitories, and remind everyone that the influenza season is only a few months away. It's a great reminder to our nation that people of all ages require timely immunization to protect their health.

CDC has developed immunization materials for year-round use by our immunization partners. These materials and resources target groups throughout the lifespan and can be used by immunization partners to support local outreach and education efforts during NIAM and beyond. On the website are links to age specific campaign materials:

• Adults 
• Pre-teens and teens 
• Children 
• Influenza 

Additional resource from Healthfinder

• Toolkit from National Health Information Center