Public Interest Committee wins "OPA Committee of the Year" Award

At the 2008 OPA Annual Convention, the Public Interest Committee won the "OPA Committee of the Year" Award. The dedication and passion of the group, combined with the hard work of the members enabled the PIC to recieve this award. Congratulations to all the members!

From left to right in the picture: Mei Ng, Tasneem Khan, Todd Seibert, Kathleen Ashton, Lindsay Orchowski, Michele Evans, Mary Lewis, and past OPA president, Cathy McDaniels-Wilson.

Helping Military Families Cope

The American Red Cross today announced a new course, Coping With Deployments: Psychological First Aid for Military Families, is now available. The course, offered free of charge, is open to military family members of active duty, Reserve and National Guard forces, as well as veterans and their families.

For the entire article, click here.

If you are interested in volunteering for the Red Cross or learning more about disaster relief or assisting with crisis situations, please contact the DRN co-chairs Kurt Jensen, Psy.D. & Jim Broyles, Ph.D., or visit the Red Cross website.

Reach Out and Read

If you are attending the OPA Convention, please consider bringing "gently used" books for children. This is a community outreach project by the OPA staff. There will be a collection box at the registration table for the books.

The books are donated to Operation Reach Out and Read. Reach Out and Read is a national organization that makes literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric care so that children grow up with books and a love of reading. Reach Out and Read trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud and to give books to children at pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of age. A special focus is placed on children growing up in poverty. By building on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers, Reach Out and Read helps families and communities cultivate early literacy skills so that children enter school prepared to succeed at reading.

For more information, please visit the "Reach out and Read" website.

October is...

Did You Know? October is...

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

National Brain Injury Awareness Month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Disability Awareness Month

Pregnancy Loss and Remembrance Day (Oct 15)

For more information, please visit the websites linked.