November is significant for many reasons: the weather starts to get cooler, pumpkin is added as an ingredient to everything possible and the holiday season is just around the corner. It’s also that time of year when our mail boxes and television commercials give nonstop messages about who is the most qualified person to make policies that affect every aspect of our lives.
It is election time, and like the Olympics, every four years the citizens of the United States gather together at the polls to decide which candidate they want to see winning the title of commander-in-chief. The November NFHC member meeting was on November 6th, which was Election Day, so what better opportunity for the Learning Series committee to present the presidential candidate’s views on health care reform.
The Learning Series Committee unanimously agreed that our first presentation of the year was a success. We received positive feedback and encouraging comments from our peers in our post-survey. After polling the Corps for their favorite parts of the presentation, two activities tied for popularity - the Mock Debate and the Video on Health Care Reform. The Learning Series engaged the Corps members in a variety of events throughout the presentation. To start we challenged the Corps members to determine which various quotes from media sources were stated by which presidential candidates. Then there was a viewing of a nine minute crash course on the Affordable Care Act, prepared by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. This is a “must see” video that the Learning Series Committee would recommend for all our fine followers of this blog to watch since it not only entertaining, but informative. View it at the end of the blog!
The Mock Debate was a one-time-only event, but we will speak for ourselves to say that all of our participants in the mock debate captured the essence of the moderators and candidate of the real presidential debates. After the debate and a brief discussion the Corps members had a two-party vote and accurately predicted the results of the actual national vote revealed later that evening.
The Learning Series Committee is so very pleased that the Corps appreciated our presentation. It was great to see our plan come to life in front of an audience!
A few fabulous NFHC Corps members spent their Saturday serving the community and learning new things at the Northeast Florida VegFest.
The Third Annual Northeast Florida VegFest, presented by The Girls Gone Green and Northeast Florida Vegetarian Society took place November 3, 2012 at Riverside Park in Jacksonville. The event was free to the public and promoted healthy, sustainable, plant-based nutrition.
The event had many local vegan and vegetarian food vendors, farmers, environmental organizations and animal rescues. There were many cooking demonstrations and tasty samples to try!
Health Corps members were busy throughout the day helping hand out samples of healthy foods and getting creative in the kids zone. Crafts included making magic with environmentally friendly wands, recycled magazine collages, and toilet paper tube owls.
Sarah & Anneke in the Kids Zone. Photo Courtesy of the Girls Gone Green
"I think that eating healthier is very important. The VegFest was a great way to show the community about healthier eating options and expose people to alternative products that are not as harmful to the environment or our bodies. And it was in a great location! I volunteered at the Kid Zone and helped kids make environmentally friendly crafts with recycled material and vegan paint. I enjoyed the experience! The kids made some really cute little critters."-- Anneke Demmink
