Our Towns
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Augusta
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Chelsea
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Farmingdale
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Fayette
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Gardiner
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Hallowell
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Litchfield
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Manchester
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Monmouth
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Mt. Vernon
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Pittston
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Randolph
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Readfield
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Richmond
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Vienna
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Wayne
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W. Gardiner
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Windsor
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Winthrop |
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Important Dates
January 19, 2009, 11:00 - 2:00: Heat Helpers Fundraiser. Free community event for families at the Buker Community Center in Augusta. Bounce house, games, reading corner, vendors, workshops, food, and more! FMI: Deb Stanhope at 1.800.427.1127
January 30, 2009: Take Time! Grant Applications Due. See related article for this exciting grant opportunity from HCCA. Click on the link to Download Application or contact Renee Page for more information.
March 25-27, 2009: 10th Annual New England Fathering Conference. Crown Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, CT. Registration for fathers is $25 for all 3 days! FMI: Fatherhood Initiative of Connecticut |
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HCCA
Board of Directors
Mary Francis Bartlett
Rebecca West Dick, Chair
Cindy T. Flye
Rob Gordon
Chuck Hays, Treasurer
Bill McKenna
William McPeck
Kathi Wall
Jim Wood, Secretary
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Welcome to Volume 2 Issue 2 This issue is dedicated to schools, youth serving organizations, and anyone concerned about the health and wellbeing of our children. You are invited to submit articles, ideas, and event announcements to rpage@mcd.org
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Maine Grades Sink on American lung Association Annual State of Tobacco Control Report Card  Each year the American Lung Association (ALA) reveals its State of Tobacco Control Report Card. Much like a school report card, The American Lung Association assigns letter grades for specific tobacco control policies. Maine has been a leader in the past, earning straight A's in 2005 and 2006, but has experienced falling grades in the past two years. This year Maine slipped to a C in Tobacco Prevention and Control Spending and only earned a C in the newly introduced category, Cessation Coverage. ALA of Maine Executive Director, Ed Miller blames program funding cuts for the falling grades. Maine continues to be a leader in Smoke-Free Air. To ensure Maine recaptures straight A status, we must work to protect funding for prevention and treatment programs as well as look to equalize the tax between cigarettes and loose tobacco products. For more details on the report, click on the link above.
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HCCA Announces Grant Opportunity for Take Time!  HCCA is offering mini-grants in the amount of $225 to support Take Time! implementation and/or expansion. Take Time! is a physical activity program designed to increase the amount of physical activity students engage in during the school day outside of recess and Physical Education. The program is designed to complement, not replace, classroom instruction time. Visit www.maine-nutrition.org to learn more about Take Time!
Visit the HCCA website at www.healthycommunitiesme.org/news to download an application. Applications are due January 30, 2009. Awards will be announced February 3, 2009.
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Words of Wisdom from Chef Ann Cooper 
For a truly inspirational look at what can be done to improve the nutrition environment in our schools and at home, set aside 20 minutes to watch and listen to award-winning Chef and Author Ann Cooper from Berkeley Unified School District in California. Chef Ann gives her unique perspective as self-described Renegade Lunch Lady on how and what we feed our kids, federal level policies that affect food choices in the lunchroom, and methods she used to transform the school lunch program.
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Third-Hand Smoke Deemed Dangerous 
Do you or someone you know need one more reason to quit smoking? According to research reported in the January, 2009 issue of Pediatrics led by Jonathan Winickoff, MD, MPH, assistant director of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy, some 250 poisonous gases and chemicals settle and linger as dangerous particulates on clothing, hair, furniture, carpets, toys, and virtually any surface exposed to smoke.
Small children are especially susceptible to third-hand smoke exposure because they can inhale near, crawl and play on, or touch and mouth contaminated surfaces. Third-hand smoke can remain indoors even long after the smoking has stopped. Similar to low-level lead exposure, low levels of tobacco particulates have been associated with cognitive deficits among children.
To view a 3-minute segment with Dr. Nancy Snyderman from the Today Show on the dangers of third-hand smoke, go to Today Show.
If you or someone you know needs help to quit smoking, call the Maine Tobacco Helpline at 1.800.207.1230.
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What is Renee Reading?  In Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally (Harmony Books, 2007) Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon make a year-long commitment to eat only foods grown and harvested locally. Thus was born the 100-Mile Diet. Join Alisa and James as they struggle to maintain a balanced diet of foods harvested within 100 miles of their Vancouver, British Columbia home. The authors provide an eye-opening look at food policy in North America and across the globe. The day-to-day struggle the authors face to break free of our typical diet where food travels an average of 1500 miles from farm to plate can be at one moment humorous, the next heartbreaking. The authors outline how industrialized food systems have contributed to the loss of indigenous crops, the rise in obesity rates, and the impact our global diet has had on family and community. I recommend everyone read this before Spring...and then start planning your gardens!
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Thank you for your commitment to the health and wellbeing of our children. Please let us help you make connections to improve lives across our southern Kennebec communities.
Sincerely,
Joanne Joy, Director
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Renee Page, School & Youth Program Manager
Healthy Communities of the Capital Area
A Local Healthy Maine Partnership
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