Effingham County Health Department employees recently opened an area in the health department waiting room that is specifically designed for children. “The Farmers Market” is geared toward promoting healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables while at the same time giving children a place to play until it’s time for their appointment.
The area is stocked with a small vegetable stand along with plastic fruit and vegetables donated by Amerigroup. Both Amerigroup and Wellcare provided healthy snacks for the grand opening. Health department employees designed and painted colorful wall murals depicting garden and farming scenes. The idea came about after some health department employees attended a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) conference in Atlanta which focused on the importance of nutrition and young children. WIC provides vouchers for healthy foods along with nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.
“We put our heads together and came up with the idea to create a special section of our waiting room that we hope will spark an interest in good nutrition not only for the children who play there but also for their parents,” said Effingham County Health Department Nurse Manager, Cindy Grovenstein, R.N. “Eating healthy is so important for our little ones. Exposing them to fruits, vegetables, and other nutritional foods at an early age will go a long way toward laying the groundwork for a healthy adulthood.”
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- Effingham County Health Department staff designed and painted the murals in the new play area. Standing L to R: Nichelle Screen, customer service representative; Linda Jiles, LPN; Mary Weaver, LPN; Cindy Grovenstein, RN; Tammy Dixon, customer service representative. Kneeling: Paola Aldana-Reyes, RD, LD; and Cindy Adams, customer service representative.
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- McKenna Whitfield and Cindy Groventstein, RN.
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- Lila Harmon and Tammy Dixon.
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- Hudson Whitfield enjoys the new play area at the Effingham County Health Department.
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- Tammy Dixon, customer service representative, arranges some of the plastic food in the play area.
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- Cindy Grovenstein, RN; Tammy Dixon, customer service representative; and Cindy Adams, customer service representative, work on the mural in the new children’s play area.
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- Working to complete the mural which is centered around farming and gardening.
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