Hospital group awards $98,000

T. J. ROYAL

Seven community agencies who help Edgecombe residents with their health were awarded $98,000 from Heritage Hospital on Monday.

Heritage Hospital Development Council's immediate past president Billy Barnes announced the recipients, as each of them gave a brief description of their programs.

For a third straight year, the Edgecombe County Health Department's Diabetes Management program receiving $50,000 from the Development Council. Program Coordinator Charlotte Goodwyn said it helps residents become self-managers of their disease, offering nutrition and exercise activities for "every diabetic in the county" who wants to become part of the program.

Calling it an "ongoing focus group," Goodwyn added that when the hundreds of people who have already joined become part of it, "they're never out there alone" dealing with the disease. "They never get rid of us."

Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church's pastor, the Rev. Richard Joyner, accepted a $15,000 grant, which he said will go towards expanding the church's summer activities for youth within the county. This past summer, Joyner said 65 students participated in the church's activity, working out and also working on a two-acre patch of land, where they grow, harvest and eat their own fruits and vegetables.

The money will also go towards teaching youth and church members how to cook healthy foods properly, to lessen the chance of destroying healthy substances found in the foods.

Med-Link Volunteer Center of Rocky Mount Coordinator Teri Taylor received a $14,800 grant this year from the Development Council, so that her organization can continue to provide lancets, strips and blood sugar level readers free-of-charge to low-income residents who deal with diabetes.

She noted that her organization works with the Tar River Mission Clinic in Rocky Mount to help provide those materials, and also lobbies pharmaceutical companies for samples of medicines.

Also receiving funds were:

• The 100-Mile Club: Walking Across America program, with $7,000 awarded to the program's coordinator, Patillo A+ School Physical Education Teacher Heather Hazelwood.

• The Boys and Girls Club of Nash/Edgecombe Counties, $5,000 for its Triple Play program.

• The Edgecombe County Cooperative Extension Service's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education program, with Extension Agent Regina Moseley accepting $5,000.

• The Quigless Natural Health Center of Tarboro, with $2,120 going towards its healthy cooking class for families, particularly teenage mothers.

Funding for the seven programs came from University Health Systems and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, through University Health Systems' Regional Community Benefits Grants Program.

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