Junior Board Newsletter THE JUNIOR BOARD OF CHRISTIANA CARE, INC.
SUMMER 2017
Medicine Ball 2017 Raises over $62,000 for The Blood Pressure Ambassador Program By Carol Dehorty
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Junior Board’s "Medicine Ball". Over the years, over $1.6 million has been raised to support Christiana Care services, programs and scholarships and to purchase equipment for the hospitals. Because this was a “non-event” year, we focused on fundraising alone. The work began last September, when the Junior Board Executive Committee met with Gordon Brownlee and Elizabeth Dougherty from the CCHS Development Office and Natalie Dyke to choose a recipient for the funds. The Blood Pressure Ambassador Program was unanimously selected to be the beneficiary of our 2017 fundraising efforts. The Blood Pressure Ambassador Program was developed by the Christiana Care's Center for Heart and Vascular Health to increase awareness of high blood pressure. Hypertension is a silent killer. One in three Americans suffers from high blood pressure and many are unaware that they have this life-threatening disease. The Blood Pressure Ambassador Program proactively
helps our neighbors identify health issues early, when they are most treatable. With special training at the Center for Heart & Vascular Health, these volunteers offer free blood pressure screening, provide health education and empower people they see to take action. "The Ambassadors' role goes beyond high blood pressure management to help improve the way our neighbors look at overall health"- Angela Parker, MSN, RN-BC, Project Manager. Since July, 2015, these volunteers have screened and educated more than 3,000 members of our community. The program has been recognized for measurable outcomes with an Excellence in Community Health Gold Award. To begin the Junior Board fundraising process, the first full fundraising committee meeting was held on November 14, 2016, when each member volunteered to identify and solicit corporate sponsors. Later that month, packets were mailed to each prospective sponsor asking for support for this (continued on page 4)