3W Magazine

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF BENTON COUNTY TO HOST YOUTH OF THE YEAR CELEBRATION WITH SPECIAL GUEST MELVIN ADAMS, RETIRED HARLEM GLOBETROTTER

AG — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:19:59 +0000

BENTONVILLE Ark., March 10, 2010 – The Boys & Girls Club of Benton County will host our Annual Youth of the Year Celebration on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 6:30 pm at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Bentonville.

The Youth of the Year program is designed to recognize an exceptional youth who exceeds in their local Boys and Girls Club as well as the community and academics. The contestants have an opportunity to participate at local, state, regional and national levels.

Melvin Adams, a retired Harlem Globetrotter will be our guest speaker and share his story of overcoming negative circumstances in his life to achieve his dream of playing professional basketball.

The Youth of the Month program is part of the National Boys & Girls Clubs of America Youth of the Year program. Each Unit selects a Club member each month to be their Youth of the Month. At the end of the 12 month period, a committee selects one Club member from the Youth of the Month recipients to represent the Boys & Girls Club of Benton County as the Youth of the Year. This individual will receive a college scholarship in the amount of $1,500. The Youth of the Year for our Club will go onto compete at the State level for additional scholarship funding. The competition will continue up to Regional and National levels. Each level awards additional scholarship funding.

Additional honors will be bestowed throughout the evening’s festivities. Four deserving Club members will be presented with the Junior Youth of the Year Award. This award is given to active Club members who serve as role models for younger Club members and assisting staff members with program activities.

Please join our staff, Board of Directors and Club members to honor these outstanding youth that serve our community.

ABOUT BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF BENTON COUNTY

The mission of the Boys & Girls Club of Benton County is to promote and strengthen families, while at the same time building stronger communities in the towns and cities we serve. This is accomplished by providing facilities, programs and services that enable and ensure our youth realize their full potential. The Clubs offer a variety of after-school, intercession and summer programs designed for character and leadership development as well as education and career development and activities promoting health and life skills, the Arts, sports, fitness and recreation.

The Boys & Girls Club of Benton County operates facilities from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday – Friday and from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. during summer and 7:00am to 5:00 p.m. during most school breaks. Benton County club facilities serve the Bentonville, Rogers, Gravette and Bella Vista communities from the following locations:

McKinney Unit 2801 N. Walker, Bentonville, Ark.

Bella Vista Unit 2260 Forrest Hills Blvd, Bella Vista, Ark.

H.L.M. Unit 1207 NW Leopard Lane, Bentonville, Ark.

Rogers Unit 409 S. 8^th, Rogers, Ark.

To donate to the Boys & Girls Club of Benton County, volunteer or inquire about how you can become a member, call (479) 273-7187.

Youth Bridge Seeks Donations for Spring Break Activities

AG — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:54:26 +0000

The Glass Slipper Project is Accepting Donations and Volunteers

AG — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:48:50 +0000

The Glass Slipper Project is accepting donations of shoes, jewelry, purses, and – of course, dresses!

Prom is April 17th. They will also have a “shopping day” this Saturday, March 20 and again April 3,
so those would be good volunteer days. They also have a need for volunteers on April 17 to do hair and makeup for the girls.

Look for more info on their Facebook Page–Glass Slipper Prom Project, Fayetteville.

Donations can be dropped off at the glass slipper room Tuesdays 9a.m.–1p.m. and Thursdays 12:30–3:30p.m.

Questions? Volunteers and donors can call Marian at 973-8653, email marian.riner@fayar.net

Loving Choices Announces Its Second Annual Life Walk

AG — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:24:20 +0000

(Northwest Arkansas) – Loving Choices Pregnancy Center of NWA announces the date of its second annual Life Walk, June 12th, 2010 at Arvest Ballpark, registration begins at 8:30 AM, walk at 9:00 AM. Life Walk provides Loving Choices the opportunity to increase awareness for services it offers to women in Northwest Arkansas. Life Walk is a fun, family friendly event. Participants raise funds while walking two miles for Life.

The community is encouraged to participate in the second annual Life Walk by signing up as a walker, recruiting others to be a part of Life Walk or by becoming a sponsor of the event. Sponsorships are as low as $250.00 and offer advertising opportunities to local businesses. For more detailed information on Life Walk 2010, visit our supporter webpage www.support.lovingchoices.org/lifewalkl.html.

Loving Choices’ mission is to provide outstanding counseling and limited medical services to women who may experience a reproductive health crisis- whether it is an unplanned pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease. Loving Choices offers unconditional care to preserve and protect human life and to enable our clients to find hope.

All Loving Choices services are free and confidential. These include: pregnancy tests, limited obstetrical ultrasound, options counseling, STD testing, post-abortion counseling, parenting classes and a long term mentoring program.

For information on services or volunteer opportunities contact Loving Choices at the Fayetteville center at (479) 521-6677 or the Rogers center at (479) 631-6677. Check out Loving Choices on the web at www.SupportLC.org or visit our client site at www.lovingchoices.org.

$60 MILLION MERCY DATA CENTER PROVIDES FAIL-SAFE PROTECTION AND POWER

AG — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:05:14 +0000

What can transfer the entire contents of the Library of Congress in 6.5 seconds and withstand a F2 tornado? These are just a few of the innovative features of the new data center built by the Sisters of Mercy Health System in Washington, Mo. The $60 million, 42,500-square-foot center, designed and built specifically to support Mercy’s 26 hospitals – including Mercy Medical Center in Rogers and St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith, physician offices and other services, was previewed Thursday by community board members, physicians and leaders from across the health system’s four-state region. The center is in its final stages of construction and will open this summer.

“The Mercy Data Center is like the Fort Knox of data,” said Will Showalter, Mercy chief information officer. “In a world where identity theft is common, it’s critical that our patients’ medical information is safely protected from outsiders or natural disasters, and yet completely accessible to their healthcare teams.”

Because healthcare today depends on 24/7 availability of technology and information, the Mercy Data Center was designed with fail-safe features to withstand a variety of natural events, power or water interruptions and even failures within the building itself. Every support system that protects data in the center is fully duplicated – with backups for power, cooling and network connectivity – and the facility can operate up to 72 hours in the case of an electrical power outage. Network bandwidth and computer processing power can also be added as needs arise.

“Today, almost every way that Mercy serves and communicates with patients is supported by technology. As one of only two percent of healthcare organizations using a comprehensive electronic health record system to connect our hospitals and physician offices, the data center will ensure our ability to keep this system and other clinical technology available around-the-clock,” said Lynn Britton, Mercy president and CEO.

“This preview was a tremendous opportunity for residents from the communities we serve to see Mercy’s commitment to supporting vital healthcare technology. The Mercy Data Center is an investment in the communities and patients we serve, and in the Mercy co-workers and physicians who deliver patient care,” said George Flynn, President and CEO of Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas.

Other unique aspects of the data center design include:
1. The center was designed to be compliant with LEED standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Of the 255 tons of steel used, 100% came from recycled sources.

2. The data center’s location in Washington, Mo., was chosen from more than 20 sites based on its bedrock foundation, access to alternate sources of power and water, distance from earthquake fault lines, and proximity to other Mercy operations.

3. The core of the center’s network, which receives and sends electronic information, could transfer the entire contents of the Library of Congress in less than 6.5 seconds.

4. More than 2 million feet – nearly 400 miles – of fiber optic cable is used to carry data through the center, enough to reach from St. Louis, Mo., to Milwaukee, Wis.

Mercy’s data needs are growing as Mercy’s dependence on technology has grown:
1. Since introducing an electronic health record system in early 2008, Mercy has seen 1,742,130 unique patients and created an electronic health record for each.

2. Nearly 40 million orders for care have been placed electronically.

3. Mercy currently stores over 6 million medical imaging studies (X-ray, ultrasound, etc.) in digital format. They occupy 125 terabytes of information – the equivalent storage space would take 8,000 iPhones.

About Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy Health System – the eighth largest Catholic healthcare system in the U.S. – includes 26 hospitals and more than 1,300 physician practices in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
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Play Texas Hold ‘Em For Charity!

AG — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:27:36 +0000

Have Lunch @ Outback and Support The Jones Center

AG — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:41:17 +0000

Pups at the Ballpark

AG — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:06:36 +0000

Arvest Ballpark has been fortunate enough to foster eight basset hound puppies and their mother. It is now getting to the time for them to be adopted. Each one of the puppies has developed a unique personality and the mother dog is as sweet as she can be. If you are interested in adopting a dog, please consider the ballpark pups. You can get more information about adopting them at http://accessfayetteville.org. The pups will be available for viewing on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. during the job fair. For more information on the job fair, visit the NWA Naturals’ Website.

Feeding a Group in March? Honey Baked Ham LIVES UNITED through Box Lunch Promotion

AG — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:46:04 +0000

Lowell, ARK. – Feeding a group in March? Honey Baked Ham has partnered with United Way of Northwest Arkansas for the month of March and for every box lunch order sold in support of United Way one dollar ($1) will be donated to the organization. Every dollar helps United Way as we work with partners in Northwest Arkansas to focus on the issues surrounding the areas of education, income and health in our community. More importantly, every dollar will support changing lives in NWA.

“If you are catering a meal for a big group, this partnership is a great way to feed the group while making a great contribution back to our community,” said Brooke Benoit, VP, Marketing & Communications for United Way of Northwest Arkansas. “By catering a meal for just 25 people, you are helping to put nearly 144 pounds of food into the hands of the hungry in Northwest Arkansas.”

When you order, use the order form found online at www.unitedwaynwa.org or tell Honey Baked Ham that you are ordering in support of United Way to ensure a dollar from each boxed lunch bought goes to support the organization. Honey Baked Ham is located in Bentonville, but they will deliver anywhere in the Northwest Arkansas area.

Call 479.271.7838 to learn more about the delivery options or log on to www.unitedwaynwa.org to download the order form to place your order today.

About United Way of Northwest Arkansas

United Way is dedicated to helping advance the good of all in our community through focusing on key issue areas such as education, income and health to create lasting changes in our community. By engaging individuals and companies around giving, advocating and volunteering for these types of issues we can all work to Live United in Northwest Arkansas. For more information about how to Live United, please visit our website at www.unitedwaynwa.org.

Loving Choices Announces its Expanded STD Testing Program

AG — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:03:46 +0000

(Northwest Arkansas) Loving Choices Pregnancy Center of NWA announced the expansion of its (Sexually Transmitted Disease) or STD testing program by adding two major tests: Trichomoniasis and Genital Herpes. In December of 2009, Loving Choices was awarded a $49,756 grant from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas.

Covered under the grant funding includes testing, lab processing and medication for treatment of these two diseases for up to 500 at-risk women in Benton and Washington Counties. Loving Choices currently test for four of the major STD’s: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis and HIV/AIDS. Since the inception of Loving Choices’ STD program began at Loving Choices in June of 2009 the center has tested 101 clients.

“We have the supplies, training and support needed to launch the program and today we begin. This is an exciting new addition to the ministry. We are honored to be the only location in Northwest Arkansas to offer these services free of charge to the community,” said Caroline Rhoads, Executive Director of Loving Choices.

Loving Choices’ mission is to provide outstanding counseling and limited medical services to any woman who may find herself experiencing a reproductive health crisis, whether it is an unplanned pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease. Loving Choices gives unconditional care to preserve and protect human life to enable our clients to find hope.

All Loving Choices services are free and confidential. These include: pregnancy tests, limited obstetrical ultrasound, options counseling, post-abortion counseling, parenting and childbirth classes and a long term mentoring program.