YWCA Hosts 8th Annual Health & Safety Day

The Young Woman's Christian Association (YWCA) of Bucks County has put out its best effort to educate the community in a myriad of topics ranging from the empowerment of the underprivileged, employment training, and drug/alcohol prevention in addition to operating a number of family centers throughout the area. This Friday the YWCA took to the streets in order to promote physical safety and well-being.

The 8th Annual YWCA Family Health & Safety Day was held at Creekside Apartments on Knights Road from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. At this event, the YWCA partnered with the Bucks County Department of Health, JEVs, Voice and Vision, Inc. to bring the 1,050 families that reside at Creekside Apartments invaluable knowledge and resources about health and safety.

The entire affair resembled a science or career fair, with each table occupied by a specific group such as the Boy Scouts of America, the St. Mary Medical Center Community Wellness Program, or the Bucks County Health Improvement Partnership. Visitors could pick and choose which tables to approach and learn about wellness and safety.

In addition to the wellness tables, the children who participated in the YWCA's Life Sciences Career Camp displayed their knowledge of the health care field. The students themselves learned about this particular field through a focused, week-long series of classes that enabled the children to partake in hands-on science experiments.

“The philosophy of the YWCA is to move underserved, lower-income children, women, and families in Bucks County toward self-sufficiency,” said YWCA spokesman Ken Lynch.

“By exposing these children to these classes and field trips, we are hoping to pique an interest in the sciences and show them different career paths that they might not have known existed. We are hoping to, in a way, illustrate the idea that hard work and proper education can yield these kinds of careers.”

Lynch, a six-year employee of the YWCA, believes that the career camps and the knowledge that the students display on Health & Safety Day is crucial. He would, gladly, keep the camp open for another year.

"It all depends on funding. As of right now, the Bucks County Workforce Investment Board has been funding our Career Camps 100 percent for the past five years, and that funding is deeply appreciated. We'd love it if we could continue running the camps next year, but like I said, it all depends on funding."

The YWCA Family Health & Safety Day was filled with health screenings, games, crafts, prizes, treats and, of course, children. Danielle, an 11-year-old student who is also on her third year at the career camp, said: “I like that I learn a lot and do hands-on experiments as opposed to learning about it in books. My favorite part about the camps were the field trips. It's good that we're able to do this sort of thing and not sit around all summer going 'now what?'”

As the only YWCA in Bucks County, the organization has been serving the community since 1954 and is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. For more information about this group, Health & Safety Day, the career camps, or to make a contribution, please contact the YWCA Bucks County at (215) 953-7793.