Contributing toward the support of our local veterans through the VSO General Fund is a great opportunity for the members of the community to give back and thank veterans for their services.
Donations to the Homeless Fund will help supply toiletries, clothing, identification card/application fees, furnishings, or cooking utensils/appliances, or may fund expenses like a utility bill or car repair for those experiencing, at risk for, or exiting homelessness.
Your donations to the Step Up program will be used for collateral items (i.e., T-shirts, backpacks, etc.), venue rental, event food, printing, speakers' fees, awards, materials, and other items associated with Step Up—a movement to encourage youth to participate in extracurricular activities, foster positive associations, and connect to constructive social networks.
For more than five decades the Lily Pond was a popular water feature in Mooney Grove Park. Due to the increasing cost of repair and maintenance over time, the Lily Pond is been non-functional for the past 15 years. To avoid demolition and to honor the history of the Lily Pond, the County is seeking donations from the community to help repair and restore the Lily Pond.
The Kings/Tulare Area Agency on Aging helps provide programs and activities for local senior citizens, from arts and crafts to Medicare counseling, line dancing to home-delivered meals. Your donations to the Area Agency on Aging will help us continue to provide a wide range of services and activities to encourage older Americans to remain healthy, active, and involved in the community.
The funds donated to the Human Services At-Risk Youth fund benefit youth who are participating in an employment program and working to make the transition to adulthood and self-sufficiency. This program helps youth in need of emergency monies for necessities such as transportation, work apparel, utilities, medical, dental, and prescription expenses.
SPTF envisions a county without suicide and aims to accomplish this by implementing a full range of strategies, starting from prevention and early intervention. Your donations to the SPTF will help increase prevention and early intervention services, and help our community members better understand and recognize the signs and symptoms of suicide risk.
August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Each week of the month is further separated to highlight important differences in communities. Throughout the country, many organizations and causes work together to spread information and support breastfeeding, as well as to address systemic issues that continue to plague many groups of people.
The first week is recognized as World Breastfeeding Week and is often when information and many general posts are shared. It sets the stage for the rest of the month and introduces the focus of the year. This year, the theme is "This Is Our Why." Why do we fight each day for more breastfeeding access? Why is this so important to so many people? Why are we passionate about breastfeeding? This thought will be incorporated into the information shared, creating a cohesive message.
The second week is dedicated to Indigenous Milk Medicine, and many Natives share how breastfeeding has helped them connect with their culture and history, as well as the things that are lacking in their communities. Many reservations are remote and far away from even a hospital, let alone lactation specialists or supportive pediatricians. This leads to a lack of support and ultimately makes breastfeeding very difficult.
The third week brings Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders into focus and shows how these cultures have historically been marketed to by formula companies and have been left with very few resources for breastfeeding success. Many Asian cultures in our area may not consider breastfeeding and go straight to formula feeding.
The fourth week is Black Breastfeeding Week. Statistics show that Black infant and maternal mortality is the highest in this country—the national average is 20.1 per 100,000 births, while the Black maternal mortality rate is 44 per 100,000. Black Breastfeeding Week is one of the most important aspects of the month and is often a large focus.
Finally, new this year, the last week (spilling into September) is Semana de la Lactancia Latina—Latina breastfeeding week. Hispanics encounter a language barrier as well as cultural differences when it comes to breastfeeding, which can make it hard to talk about.
As you can see, this month is full of information about all aspects of breastfeeding. There will be many national social media posts and from the California Breastfeeding Coalitions along with many free online presentations that you can attend throughout the month. We encourage you to explore things that you may not know much about.
Written by Elizabeth Krey, IBCLC - Lactation Coordinator with Tulare County WIC
Relevant Resources:
California Breastfeeding Coalition: https://californiabreastfeeding.org/
World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA): https://waba.org.my/wbw/
Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine: https://www.bfmed.org/worl d-breastfeeding-week-2023