Combinations are excellent!
1103 words by kguerin
I received lots of positive feedback regarding the progression of my project. Thanks to everyone who supports my idea! The Diabetes Awareness event that was scheduled on November 30 went extremely well. I took several photos, some of which are posted above. The pictures from left to right are as follows: Dr. Stephens answering a personal question, attendees enjoying the provided snacks, Dr. Stephens lecturing to the audience, the audience listening to the lecture, and myself with Dr. Stephens. I served healthy snacks to correlate with the healthy living theme. These included assorted vegetable trays with dip, a variety of cheeses, homemade turkey salad with crackers, and bottled water. I must admit that initially I was concerned with attendance because I knew I would be competing with football games, general family activities, and any other typical Sunday ritual! We had an excellent turn-out though: approximately 60 people attended.
Dr. Stephens lectured about diabetes prevention and maintenance; in addition he offered diet and exercise tips. His speech was followed by a question and answer session which also appeared to be very beneficial. Many of the attendees were excited by the opportunity to speak with him one-on-one. Several mentioned that they are faithful viewers of his local television program and were interested in receiving his personal medical advice for their various conditions. Unfortunately Dr. Stephens was unable to provide flu shots at the event. He did however mention that he will be receiving a shipment of thousands of free flu shots before Christmas! He promised me that we will co-host another event at the same location ASAP to administer the free flu shots to any interested individuals. They will be given on a first-come-first-served basis.
I am very pleased at the outcome of my project thus far and look forward to working with Dr. Stephens again in the future. The priests and parishioners at my church are happy that I was able to get Dr. Stephens to provide free flu shots because many of them are elderly, on a limited income and without transportation. Many of the attendees mentioned to me that previously they were trying to find a cheap shot and a way to Metairie to receive it. They are ecstatic that they will not have to pay anything and can remain close to home.
In addition to my awareness event, I sat in on a meeting at the Department of Health which entailed group findings on the implementations of various projects aimed towards improving the health in our city. This meeting was fascinating and gave me lots of information about the waning health of our citizens. The groups attended local grocery stores and set up tables with free food samples and information on healthy cooking. They found that sales on these healthy sampled items increased the most when the items were on sale. This shows that people are interested in eating healthy if they believe they can afford it. They also provided findings regarding differences amongst predominately Caucasian versus African-American area. Many of the former already purchased and ate these healthy foods on a consistent basis and were vaguely familiar with the provided information. The latter group contained more individuals who were not interested in trying healthy options and they were usually not previously aware of the information provided.
The groups also spoke about findings in the diets of students at local and national elementary and high schools. They mentioned the new laws that are in place regarding vending machines and the possible impacts of the new rules which include mandatory healthy snack and drink options and limited availability by controlling the hours of operation. They mentioned that the sugary options that were previously available throughout the entire school day were a detriment to the kids’ health. Statistics show that the eating habits at school can roll over and affect the eating habits at home. This helps explain why so many more kids are overweight and diabetic than ever before!
Jesus is our Savior because He willingly died on a cross for all future mankind. Unfortunately Jesus was arrested and crucified for claiming that He was “king of the Jews”. To further mock Him, they dressed Jesus in purple robe and bestowed a crown of thorns upon his head. Jesus is counter cultural because He is worshiped across the globe and represented and viewed in many different cultures and ethnicities. Some believe that Jesus’ appearance resembled that of a Caucasian man while others believe that he had brown skin and wool-like hair. Regardless of the difference in possible appearances, all who follow in His footsteps agree that He was mighty and unconditionally loving and accepting of others. We strive for His acceptance and approval in hopes that one day we will greet Him at the pearly gates, assuring Him that He did the right thing by dying for us.
The story of Tobit is quite interesting. Tobit was an Assyrian man who ran into a series of bad luck. First he is blinded by a bird pooping in his eye (yikes!). As a result, he loses his job and fails in his marriage. Eventually an angel appears and cures Tobit of his sudden blindness. So even though Tobit wanted to end his life in the midst of it all, he remained strong and kept his faith so God sent him a blessing. The moral I suppose is that good things come to those who wait and God won’t put you through anything that you can’t overcome.