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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM: Shelly Pauling, Education & Communications Manager RE: RedBrownVille Farm Safety 4 Just Kids Receives National Awards DATE: May 5, 2009 The RedBrownVille Farm Safety 4 Just Kids group was developed late in 2006 with a focus on community safety efforts related to the farm. Members of the local chapter include FFA groups from Redwood Falls, Sleepy Eye, Springfield, and Wabasso; United FCS, Monsanto, University of Minnesota 4-H Clubs from Renville and Redwood Counties; Redwood County Public Health, Minnesota Farm Bureau and Redwood Area Hospital. In 2008, the RedBrownVille Chapter held 12 events in Redwood, Brown and Renville counties. Events focused on ATV Safety, Grain Safety, Machinery Safety, Animal Safety, Bike Safety and other safety related topics. During these events approximately 12,500 adults and children were served with the local chapter members contributing over 1000 hours of community education. “What is unique about this chapter is that we are a multi-county chapter, working together to promote safety in our communities. Adults as well as students contribute to the volunteer hours of the chapter teaching a variety of different topics at our events,” states Mary Hoffmann, Sleepy Eye FFA program instructor and chapter leader. In recognition of the great work from the local chapter, the following awards were received by the group in 2008: “Out of the Box Award” which recognizes chapters who promote farm safety in unique ways; “Kids are Key Award” which recognizes chapters for going the extra mile to include youth as chapter leaders and members; “Over 10,000 People Reached in 2008 Award” and “Over 1,000 Volunteer Hours in 2008 Award”. The chapter has some upcoming events planned for this summer to include the Bike Rodeo which will be held in Redwood Falls on June 9, 2009 from 5:30 to 7:30pm at the Redwood Area Community Center and FarmFest which will be held August 4-6, 2009 from 8am-5pm at Gilfillan Estates just outside of Redwood Falls. “We try to promote hands-on activities at the events that we sponsor,” states Shelly Pauling, Education & Communications Manager at Redwood Area Hospital. “At some of our past events, youth and adults have had the opportunity to see what it would be like to try to pull someone out of a grain bin and just how much weight they could pull, using carrots they could see what would happen to their fingers if they were stuck in moving chains and gears, and they have learned about animal safety and using quiet voices followed by proper hand washing techniques following interaction with the animals.” Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4K) is a national organization which started in 1986 following the death of 11-year old Keith Algreen who suffocated in a gravity flow wagon full of shelled corn on his Iowa family’s farm. It is FS4JK’s mission to promote a safe farm environment to prevent health hazards, injuries and fatalities to children and youth. For more information or to find safety related activities for your children, please visit the FS4JK website at www.fs4jk.org. If you would like more information about our local chapter, please contact Mary Hoffman at 507-766-0905 or click here to view our chapter newsletter. |
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