Presentations at Huhtamaki

For the last few days I have taken part in presentations at Huhtamaki employee meetings.
Nick Habel, HR Manager at Huhtamaki invites United Way to speak on how the community benefits from the generosity of employees payroll deductions.

I have the option to invite member agency representatives to describe the services they provide.
This year Betty Fadden of the Fulton YMCA spoke on Tuesday. She spoke about their pool that is heated to 88 degrees and the people that use it for therapy in order to move/walk without pain. It is clear that Betty is very dedicated to her work at the Y and is witness to improvements in their clients physical health and general well being. She also talked about the many programs that help children after and before school as well as summer camp.

John Scardella our board president took the evening shift on Tuesday from 9:30-10:30 pm.
Perhaps John will post a note. John is a former employee of Huhtamaki and I believe this is where he first began volunteering for United Way. Thank you John.

On Wednesday morning Jeanne Unger, Executive Director of Farnham Family Services discussed the mission of her agency and the prevention and treatment programs that are available. Cindy Solazzo spoke at the second meeting and we learned about "pharm parties".
Middle School or High School age students take prescription medication from their parents' medicine cabinets, bring them to a party and throw them in a bowl. They blindly take a mix of pills and ...sounds like trouble. This seemed to be an eyeopener for most in the group. I know it was for me. Prevention programs in the schools are one method that Farnham uses to educate on the dangers of prescription drugs. Both Jeanne and Cindy emphasized that parents that tell their children to not use drugs are doing the right thing. 42% of children whose parents press the issue succeed in keeping their children alcohol and drug free.

Ellen Wahl, Executive Director of RSVP introduced Don Goeway, Ombudsman volunteer who spoke about his experiences as a watchdog at area senior health care facilities. It is good to know that there are advocates for the residents who may be our grandparents, parents or long time friends. Don let us know that most of the facilities he has visited do a very good job, but he visits a few hours each week to talk to residents and their families to ensure that their stay meets their needs.

Thanks to all who took part in the meetings, Nick, Betty, Jeanne, Cindy, John, Ellen, Don, and of course all the employees of Huhtamaki. We thank you for your time and investment in the people of the community.

Thursday will be the final day of meetings. Stay tuned for the next group of presenters.