St. John's Hospital Expands its Reach with Boys and Girls

JoAnn Lemaster, satellite education coordinator for St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, has tapped into a valuable resource for poison prevention education and outreach with young children -- The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts organizations of America . These organizations are dedicated to helping boys and girls build character and gain skills for success in the real world, making them an ideal outlet to partner with, according to Lemaster. Each local unit or council is led by adult volunteers who are responsible for helping guide and teach children leadership skills, social conscience and many other practical life skills. Training these adult volunteers in poison prevention will not only help prepare them in an emergency situation, but also is an opportunity to incorporate public safety information into Scouts’ programming, helping spread poison safety to the youngsters, their parents and families.

Lemaster has scheduled a poison prevention educator training with the Girl Scout Leaders of the Lincoln Land Council during National Poison Prevention Week.

Getting involved with the local Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts is easy, says Lemaster. Web sites of both organizations have searchable databases, which provide the contact information for local groups throughout the nation, including Illinois.

Although the listings may not provide a direct contact name for the group, all local groups have a listing for an adult development coordinator. All mail can be addressed to this person.  The adult development coordinator handles all educational programming for the boys and girls. Be sure to follow up with a phone call about two weeks after you send the letter.

There also are several other organizations that work with young children and could benefit from poison education. Contact some of the groups below to arrange similar outreach and trainings:

· YMCA/YWCA
· Church groups, synogogues, mosques
· Parent groups (i.e., the PTA, or "Mommy and Me" classes)
· Park district classes
· Organized sports teams

Girl Scout Contact Information

To find the local councils of the Girl Scouts nearest you, visit www.girlscouts.org. Click on “Find a Council” and search for a location on the map by your zip code or state.

Boy Scout Contact Information

To find the local councils of the Boy Scouts nearest you, visit www.scouting.org. Click on the link “local councils” and search by zip code to identify a group in your community.

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