Ho-Ho-Ho and welcome to the holiday edition of the Community Health Roundup! In this edition, I am shining a light as bright as Rudolph’s nose on some of the more positive health stories this holiday season. So I’ve made a list of articles and checked it twice and I hope you enjoy what I’ve found both informative and nice. So please don’t dash(er) off this page and instead, turn on the yule log channel, pour a big glass of eggnog, crank up the Charlie Brown Christmas album, and enjoy the holiday spirit of these articles.
Let’s be honest: socks are pretty awesome. I used to dislike getting them as gifts, but if I were to get a pair of socks today, I would be super happy I got such a practical gift. But I’m not the only one who thinks socks are a great gift, the folks at Legacy Health system agree with me. They agree so much with my sentiments that they do an annual sock drive which since 2015 has collected 94,279 pairs of socks that are then distributed to the community. Read about Legacy’s sock drive and how many they collected this year here.
Fact: Since January 1, there have been some huge breakthroughs in science. Now you may be asking “William JA Pinnock, what are they?!”, and I would love to tell you, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. So instead, you should head on over to USA Today and read about the “10 medical advances that raised hopes this year.”
Five ambulances and one semi-truck were Santa’s fleet this season in Wilmington, NC. These wheeled sleighs were packed with presents donated through the Adopt-A-Family program and brought holiday cheer to 80 families in the Wilmington area. Read more about these horseless carriages and the gifts they carried here.
Santa swapped Rudolph’s red nose for red emergency lights Tuesday when he made an appearance at Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center. Escorted by some of New England’s finest, Santa made the season brighter by delivering presents to all the children on his nice list. Read about Santa’s surprise stop here.
About the Author
William Jacob Amadeus Pinnock is a Research Coordinator & Holiday Cheermeister at OCHIN where he assists with the creation, execution, and dissemination of research projects and holiday cheer. He graduated with an MS in Communication from Portland State University where he focused on health communication, rural mass media, and cookie making. He has experience working in commercial health insurance, healthcare research, and toy making. In his spare time, he is an Adjunct Instructor at Portland State University helping students master the art of public speaking and a holiday elf at Santa’s Workshop.
