15 year anniversary of helmet program
Special to The Gazette
Friday, May 13, 2011
Lyon County kindergarteners have received bicycle helmets, funded 100 percent by the Sadie Jones Fund of the Emporia Community Foundation and coordinated through Newman Regional Health.
The bicycle helmet program provides helmets at factory cost from Bell Sports through a program sponsored by the Kansas Safe Kids Coalition out of Topeka. From 1997 to 2009, the Sadie Jones Fund of the Emporia Community Foundation provided partial funding necessary to continue the bicycle helmet program for Lyon County kindergarteners, and full funding in 2010 and this year.
“We are so lucky to have the support of the Sadie Jones Fund. For the second year, the Sadie Jones Fund committee agreed to fund 100 percent of the cost of the helmets,” said Beth Hammond, Marketing and Business Development Specialist at Newman Regional Health.
This year, Emporia High School AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and National Honor Society students visited all Lyon County Kindergarteners to educate them on the safety of bicycling and the importance of wearing a helmet every time they ride their bikes. After watching a video and learning about bike safety, the EHS students fit the Kindergarteners with their helmets to take home.
“I would like to thank Deanne Korsak at EHS and her students for their role in this important community project,” Hammond said. “Our goal is to improve the safety of our youth in our community. We hope that parents will enforce the rule of wearing a helmet every time their child gets on a bike, skateboard, etc.”
This year, 466 Lyon County kindergarteners in 14 different schools received a helmet. The helmet program is in its 15th year and over 8,400 helmets have been distributed (including 5,300 kindergarteners).
Low-cost bicycle helmets are available year round through Newman Regional Health. The helmets are at Newman Medical Equipment & Supply, 1015 Industrial Road in Emporia. Toddler to adult sizes are available for $7.75. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
More information on bicycle safety may be found on the Safe Kids Kansas website:
http://www.kdheks.gov/safekids/wheeled_sports.html
madpoet (anonymous) says...
My son got a helmet this year. He was so excited and wanted to ride his bike that evening. Thank you to the Sadie Jones Fund!
May 13, 2011 at 2:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )