MEDIA ADVISORY
REQUESTING COVERAGE
EVENT:
Healthy Savannah Biennial Meeting
WHEN:
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
TIME:
7:30 – 9:00 AM EDT
A healthy breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m. with the program held from 8-9 a.m.
WHERE:
Charles H. Morris Center
10 East Broad Street
Savannah, GA 31401
WHAT:
The program will include the presentation of the 2023 Health Innovation Award and will feature remarks by keynote speaker Montrece McNeill Ransom, JD, MPH, director of the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training. The public-private coalition launched by former Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson in 2007 has cultivated partnerships with more than 200 businesses, nonprofits, faith- and community-based organizations, schools, and healthcare and government agencies to develop policies and improve environments to assist people in making healthier choices the easy choice and to create and support a healthier, safer, and more accessible environment for all people to live, learn, work, pray, and play.
Healthy Savannah will also present the inaugural Dennis Hutton Spirit award in support of a community or school garden. Hutton, who passed away in 2022, was well known for contributing his time and talent over the past decade to Healthy Savannah, Savannah Urban Garden Alliance, Mixed Greens and the Forsyth Farmers Market.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Montrece McNeill Ransom, JD, MPH, currently serves as the director of the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training. Ms. Ransom was appointed as a Presidential Management Fellow and worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for almost 20 years. For the last 10 years of her service, Ms. Ransom led CDC’s public health law related training and workforce development efforts. She received her law degree from the University of Alabama, her MPH from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, and her Executive Leadership Coaching Certification from Georgetown University.
2023 HEALTH INNOVATION AWARD NOMINEES:
- Blessings in a Bookbag / Bike Walk Savannah Bike Drive: Bike Walk Savannah and Blessings in a Bookbag have collaborated for 9 straight years, passing out refurbished bikes to young Savannahians for the holiday season. Bikes, most of which are in disrepair, are refurbished by Bike Walk Savannah and members of the community at no charge and then distributed to the youth at an annual event in December. Blessings in a Bookbag helps promote the donation drive and gathers community members for the event, usually held at Savannah Gardens Apartments. The goal of the program is to supply kids with a form of exercise and transportation. Approximately 600 kids have received bikes over the past 9 years of this program.
- CAT’s Wellness Center: The re-opening of Chatham Area Transit’s Wellness Center is CAT’s commitment to providing their employees with the tools needed to be happy, whole, and healthy people. The agency values the health and well-being of its employees and one way to do that is to make the gym free and accessible to all staff, regardless of title. CAT’s Wellness Center focuses on the body, but also mental and financial health through programs and activities. Not only does CAT care about its employees, but also the community through its electric vehicles. These vehicles contribute to sustainability and clean air across our area. CAT is proud to offer this incredible service to first-line heroes and to the people who depend on CAT to take them where they need to go.
- Loop it Up Savannah – Mindfulness Zone program: Loop It Up Savannah’s Mindfulness Zone program was founded in 2019 at the collaborative request of Principal Tahisha Gresham-Wright of Juliette Low Elementary School. The program offers children a toolkit of strategies for addressing emotionally challenging circumstances that arise in school among peers, at home with family members, and among community members. The program presents strategies for problem-solving using mindfulness practice, yoga, and expressive arts, and works with children to develop self-understanding, empathetic relationships with others, executive function skills and overall well-being. The goals of the Mindfulness Zone program align with those stated in the Georgia Standards for Excellence and Georgia Early Learning Development Standards for Social/Emotional Development in early and elementary learners. Loop It Up’s Mindfulness Zone program currently takes place on a daily or weekly basis at seven schools and four early learning centers and has served over 2,000 students this school year. Loop It Up has also built physical Mindfulness Zone spaces at 10 schools, which are used by students, teachers and staff as wellness spaces to support healthy, positive and trauma-responsive school climate, culture and community.
- Mountain Film Festival Youth Program: Three days of student programming is hosted each year called Movies that Matter. Movies that Matter brings award-winning documentary films to Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) students. During the three days of Movies that Matter, seven education programs are provided for over 5,000 students. A new virtual program allowed films to be screened for a record 8,500 students in 2021 and 11,033 students in 2022. After each documentary film is shown, personalities from the film join students for Q & A sessions. The organization provides customized educational materials, in support of the films, that can be used in the classroom before and after screenings. The materials, developed by Mountainfilm’s education consultant, include interviews with filmmakers. As a follow-up to Movies that Matter, the group organizes and manages a mentoring program every spring. Many of the schools selected to participate in Movies that Matter are Title I schools, where the need for education and enlightenment is paramount. The goal is to inspire these students and to instill in them a sense of open-mindedness, self-awareness and regard for the community and the world as a whole. If Movies that Matter is able to make a difference in just one young person’s life, the organization regards it as a complete success.
- Stars School Initiatives Summer Camp for Boys: Boys are boys at summer camp – except when they are learning to be men. And that is the foundation of the Stars School Initiatives Summer Camp for boys between the ages of 11-17. Dr. Gertrude Robinson operates the non-profit organization that runs the summer camp focusing on social and emotional learning curriculum and providing mentoring and life-skills development. Stars School Initiatives’ mission is to prepare male students to master a rigorous curriculum and develop skill sets to effectively interact at home, with peers, the community, and the global society. The goal of the summer camp is to foster these skills through a 6-week camp for African American boys that includes physical activity, nutrition, art, literature, and STEM classes. Dr. Robinson leads this camp and collaborates with organizations and leaders across Savannah to give campers a life-changing experience.
PHOTO and INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:
- Keynote Speaker: Montrece McNeill Ransom, JD, MPH, director of the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training
- 2022 Health Innovation Award Nominees (listed above)
- Healthy Savannah Chairperson Elect: Blake Caldwell, MD
- Healthy Savannah Outgoing Chairperson: Lillian Grant-Baptiste
COVER ARTIST – INKYBRITTANY:
Brittany Curry has served for many years as a cover artist for Healthy Savannah’s biennial meeting programs and for numerous other projects of the organization. Curry provides illustrations that clearly reflect Healthy Savannah’s vision and culture of health in our community. An early image she created for the non-profit was submitted as part of a successful grant package that led to a huge impact in Savannah/Chatham County and enabled her to launch her business and signature name, InkyBrittany. As a graphic recorder and facilitator, she documents meetings and events through live note-taking using a combination of text and large-scale visual imagery. In 2017, Curry joined the International Forum of Visual Practitioners and was also named to Georgia Trend’s annual 40 Under 40 list of rising entrepreneurs and innovators statewide. She currently serves as the chair of the board of directors for Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy and is a trained moderator in public deliberation who has worked with the Kettering Foundation and The National Issues Forums. She is currently working with Healthy Savannah on another high-intensity event, with exciting details to be forthcoming.
PAST INNOVATION AWARDS RECIPIENTS:
2021: Nandi Marshall, PhD: Savannah H.O.P.E Project (Breastfeeding)
2019: Everybody Eats Fresh Free Fridays
2017: Savannah Bicycle Campaign – New Standard Cycles Program
2015: Forsyth Farmers Market
BREAKFAST:
A healthy breakfast will be served by the Southern Palate and Ashford Tea Company will provide refreshments, including “Health Equi-Tea™,” first introduced in 2022 to celebrate Healthy Savannah’s 15th anniversary.
ABOUT HEALTHY SAVANNAH
Healthy Savannah, a 501©3 public charity is a public/private coalition of over 200 businesses, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, schools, neighborhood organizations, and healthcare and government agencies, It began as an initiative of City of Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson, formed in 2007. Healthy Savannah leads and supports a culture of health in the Savannah area by creating an environment that makes a healthy choice the easy choice; building a collaborative network that identifies and shares resources; collecting and disseminating information, promoting best practices and implementing innovative programs, and advocating for effective policies. Since its inception, this innovative, cross-sector collaboration has vastly benefited the community as evidenced by numerous multi-agency projects, grants and policy initiatives that have emerged from the initiative to create and sustain a Healthy Savannah. For more information, visit www.healthysavannah.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Marjorie Young, President
Carriage Trade Public Relations®, Inc.
marjorie@carriagetradepr.com
912-844-9990