May 2015
A newsletter of Blackford County Concerned Citizens developed in partnership with the Hoosier Environmental Council
In This Issue
BCCC Forum
Website Update
Upcoming Events
Smoking Rate
Support BCCC
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Join Our Mailing List
BCCC Mission
The mission of Blackford County Concerned Citizens is to improve the quality of life of Blackford County, Indiana residents by reducing the incidence of diseases, primarily through citizen action to investigate the diseases that are prevalent and by advocating to have these diseases investigated.
BCCC Forum 

More than 60 people came to City Hall in Hartford City April 25 to attend the Blackford County Concerned Citizens Forum: Embracing Opportunities for Community Health.

 

The  forum was a chance for people in Blackford County to hear updates on BCCC's work to identify risk factors associated with cancer and neurologic disease including well testing, soil testing at old glass factory sites, and mapping the county's industrial history.

 

Thanks to all of BCCC's collaborators for helping get this work done:

  • Blackford County Community Foundation
  • Hartford City
  • Montpelier
  • Blackford County Health Department
  • Hoosier Environmental Council
  • Dr. Sherrie Steiner at Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW)
  • EnviroForensics
  • Envision Laboratories
  • Indiana State Department of Health Laboratories
  • Many local donors and volunteers
Website Update

 

BCCC's website has been updated to include information from the forum, videos, and previous e-newsletters.  Check it out at BlackfordCountyConcernedCitizens.com.

 

One note of caution: if you see a link in the header of the webpage, don't click on it. BCCC's website has had two hacking incidents to date in which unwanted links were posted in our header.  These links are easy to spot as non-BCCC because they are not about Blackford County and they are not in the content portion of the webpage.  We are working to solve the problem.

Relay for Life & Heritage Days

BCCC will be participating in Hartford City Heritage Days June 11 to June 13.

We will also be participating in Blackford County's annual Relay for Life on June 20.



Look for our green and white sign!
Smoking Rate Going Down!

According to the Indiana State Department of Health, 33.8% of Blackford County residents were smokers from 2002 - 2008.

In data recently released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the county's smoking rate was down to 29% in 2014.
Help Us Continue 

BCCC needs your support to continue our search for exposures that increase the risk of cancer and neurologic disease and for solutions once they are identified.

Thanks to support from the Blackford County Community Foundation, there is a BCCC Fund where your donation will be matched at 50% with money from the Lilly Endowment's GIFT Phase VI initiative. So for every dollar you give, BCCC will receive $1.50.

Checks should be written to 'Blackford County Community Foundation', and 'BCCC' should be on the memo line.

Please mail to:
BCCC c/o Blackford County Community Foundation
121 North High Street
P.O. Box 327
Hartford City, IN 47348
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