Local United Way’s are pleased to announce that thanks to a successful United Way campaign at Five Star Bank, all United Way agencies in the area will be sharing a grand total of over $100,000.

   "This is what community banking is all about! I am very proud of the generosity from our entire employee base. Their involvement in their local United Way campaigns and the close ties they have with their United Way agencies was evident in their pledges putting us over our company goal and exceeding $100,000. In these tough economic times, it was heartwarming to see, not only Five Star Bank, but other companies and individuals help United Way exceed their goals so that funding can be provided to those in need," said R. Mitchell McLaughlin, Sr. Vice President & Chief Information Officer.

   Some of the unique incentives offered to the Five Star employees included a Flat screen HD TV, 4 tickets to a Buffalo Bills game, A WII Fit system in conjunction with the company wide "Eat Well, Live Well" program, as well as paid days off to their employees who participated and increased their contributions.

    "Five Star Bank’s commitment to the United Way continues to be overwhelming. The employees, together with the philanthropic leadership of Peter Humphrey, are clearly the foundation to the success of our campaign," said Donald O’Geen, the 2009 United Way Campaign Chair and Board President. "Their commitment to the United Way underscores their continued unwavering support of the communities that they do business in."

   Headquartered in Warsaw, Five Star operates 50 branches in western and central New York.

   United Way of Livingston County provides funding to 21 local health and human service programs. Volunteers representing every interest work hard to prioritize community health and social service needs, then allocate resources based on each program's ability to meet those needs.

   The United Way campaign is never over; you can donate to the United Way of Livingston County at anytime. To make a contribution or to get help starting an employee campaign, contact Karen Rumfola, United Way Regional Director at (585) 519-4248. For more information, please visit our website at:

http://www.uwlivingstoncounty.org/WhoWeAre/CountyPartners/

Red Cross partners with local schools for emergency preparedness

   The Northern Livingston County Chapter of the American Red Cross and area schools have a partnership for emergency preparedness should the need arise.

   In times of emergency, the NLCC responds by providing shelter and food to affected residents by establishing emergency shelters and warming centers at schools around the county. This partnership allows the NLCCARC to provide these important services in a cost effective manner.

   "We need to be good stewards of the Red Cross funds and donations so we ask schools to partner with us," explained David Parish, NLCC Executive Director.

   Currently, the local chapter has contracts with eight area school districts to provide emergency accommodations including bedding and meals. The chapter would contract with each school’s nutritional services department for food services when a shelter or warming center is established.

   NLCC coordinates emergency services with Livingston County Emergency Management and the Sheriff’s Department. Examples of emergency situations that would enact a shelter or warming center include large scale winter storms, power outages, earthquakes, tornados, flooding, etc. With approximately 75 cots and 200 blankets on hand and additional supplies readily available from other facilities, the local Red Cross is ready to respond whenever needed.

   A volunteer staff of 35 is on call and routinely respond to other types of emergencies that occur more frequently such as house fires. Volunteers also provide transportation to medical appointments for residents who need it. The Red Cross medical motor corp., chaired by Ray and Kay Robinson, provides residents’ with one medical transport per week. The RC partners with other Livingston County service providers for additional transportation for patients with additional weekly medical appointments, such as with dialysis or cancer treatment.

   The NLCC welcomes newly elected chair, Chris Feuerstein, who replaced outgoing chair Carolyn Lowell. Feuerstein is a graduate of Geneseo Central School and Rochester Institute of Technology. He is employed by Harris Radio.

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Livingston County kids say it’s hip to be active

   Livingston County kids know summer vacation is the time to get up, get outside and get moving. Over, 1,280 children from ten recreation programs throughout the county participated in the fourth annual Hip Hop-ping across Livingston County event on July 7, 2009. The Genesee Valley Health Partnership coordinated the event with assistance from the Livingston County Youth Bureau, Department of Health, Noyes Hospital and the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

   Hip Hop stands for Healthy Input and Healthy Output. Examples of healthy input include eating well; five servings a day of fruits and vegetables and examples of healthy output are incorporating at least one hour of exercise into your day and limiting sedentary activities such as television, computer time, phone time and video games to less than two hours a day.

   Recreation programs selected a variety of moving activities for the children to participate in for that hour that included tennis, jump roping, walking, calisthenics, and a nature hunt. In Springwater, children in the recreation program participated in an activity called the amazing race through town where kids made stops at local businesses along the way.

   The Livingston County Health Department, through a Greater Rochester Health Foundation grant, donated 1,000 mini soccer balls to the Hip Hop program for the children who took part in the fun. The children were encouraged to find innovative ways to use the balls for moving activities. In previous years, the participants received jump ropes, hacky sacks and frisbees courtesy of Noyes Healthy Heart grant funds. All of the efforts are intended to help young people learn ways to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines for a lifetime.

   "We had the most participants ever this year and they showed so many creative ways to get moving. The kids learned that you can do these activities anytime – go for a walk around town with a friend, head out on a nature trail, jump rope or just run around play. It doesn’t need to be organized, just get moving," said Jean Angililli, wellness coordinator for the Genesee Valley Health Partnership.

   Community recreation programs provide a variety of activities that promote health and wellness. The Livingston County Youth Bureau receives funding from the NYS Office of Children and Family Services and in turn, provides local municipalities with funds using a formula based on each town’s population. State funding was cut eight percent last year and an additional 10 percent this year resulting in some programs having to implement a charge for things like swim lessons or field trips, reduce the variety of offerings or increase their local budgets.

   Nita Hawkins, coordinator at the youth bureau, says local not for profits, municipal and county youth programs work cooperatively to identify and stretch funding for various youth programs throughout the year, but especially for summer recreation. The Hip Hop program is a good example of this cooperation. Hawkins initiated the idea for a county-wide physical activity for children enrolled in recreation programs. She cooperated with Angililli of the GVHP who provides year round programming in children’s fitness. Together they secured funding from the Livingston County Health Department who supplied the donated balls to each child participating. Other examples of agency cooperation include the county recreation field days, bike rodeos, local law enforcement safety visits to recreation programs and more. The youth bureau also provides summer youth employment workers and training to recreation counselors.

   Summer recreation programs are an important component of a healthy community. They provide a safe, structured environment for kids to play and include arts, crafts, field games, team sports and special guests like magicians and story tellers. Programs generally include some field trips such as to the zoo, local fun centers and baseball games.

   "Recreation programs provide opportunities for socialization, personal growth, physical activity and character building, which reduces risk factors as children move through development stages and provides protection from outside forces such as drugs and alcohol," Hawkins commented.

Lima Recreation
Photos courtesy of Carol Burke, GVHP