American Diabetes Month: Floridians Impacted In Large Numbers
November 20, 2017
November is American Diabetes Month. As the prevalence of the disease continues to rise across the state and nation, the number of Floridians with diabetes is expected to increase.
David Becker, a spokesman for the American Diabetes Association, says the latest numbers show 29 million Americans with diabetes, and the toll on health can be great, including kidney failure, blindness, amputations and more.
“There are a lot of co-morbid diseases as far as diabetes and cancer and heart disease,” he points out. “It all kind of is interrelating.”
Becker says about 95 percent of those people who have diabetes have Type 2, which healthier lifestyle choices with nutrition and physical activity can help prevent.
In Florida a little more than 1.7 million have diabetes, but that is expected to increase to nearly three million by 2030, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Becker notes that even some simple, small changes with healthy eating and regular exercise can yield big results. “If you lose just 7 percent of your body weight, you can decrease your chances of getting diabetes by 58 percent,” he stresses.
If the current trends don’t change, it’s estimated that by 2050, 30 percent of all Americans will have diabetes.
by The Florida News Connection
Century Branch Library Hosts Thanksgiving Program
November 18, 2017
The Century Branch Library recently held a Thanksgiving program. The event included a story, Magic Color Scratch ornaments and treats to eat. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Let The Miracle League Fry Your Thanksgiving Turkey
November 16, 2017
Volunteers from the Miracle League of Pensacola will fry your turkey for you next Wednesday, saving you the time and trouble while benefiting the charity. And there is still time to make an appointment.
Completely thaw your turkey, removing all of the inside packaging and giblets. Write down exactly how much your turkey weighs so it is fried perfectly and take it to the Miracle League Park at 555 East Nine Mile Road from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Wednesday. For a monetary donation to Miracle League, the volunteers will fry your turkey to perfection. A minimum of $20 per turkey is necessary to help cover costs, and any additional donation will benefit the Miracle League of Pensacola.
Call (850) 503-8894 with questions or to schedule your time (leave a message if no answer). Reservations should be made early as the number of time slots is limited.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Teen Works To Raise $1,000 To Feed The Homeless On Thanksgiving
November 16, 2017
Claire Jimenez is 14. She has a heart for her community, and her enthusiasm is contagious. With some of her friends, she formed a group called the Volunteens. They look for opportunities to be a blessing to their not-so- blessed neighbors, to the have-nots, to the underprivileged. And in October, Claire decided they’d help Waterfront Rescue Mission.
They set up a table to collect donations in front of Apple Market, and then went door to door in Claire’s neighborhood. They asked that people help Waterfront Rescue Mission feed the homeless on Thanksgiving, that we needed turkeys, stuffing, rolls, all the fixin’s to make Thanksgiving thankful. They took time that could have gone to any of a dozen things that we all do to relax and distract ourselves, and instead they went and collected money to make lives better for others. And they raised over $1,000.
“I was trying to find a service project to do and I thought the perfect one would be helping feed the homeless for Thanksgiving through Waterfront Rescue Mission,” Claire said. “My family has worked with Waterfront Rescue Mission before. We know it’s a trusting organization and helps a lot of people.”
Operation Christmas Child Collection Week At First Baptist Bratt
November 15, 2017
Volunteers have been busy this week at the First Baptist Church of Bratt during “National Collection Week” for Operation Christmas Child. For the 24th year, the simple, gift-filled shoe boxes will bring Christmas joy and evangelistic materials to children in over 130 countries across the world.
National Collection Week for OCC is November 13-20. The First Baptist Church of Bratt is the official drop-off location/OCC Relay Center for the north end of Escambia County, FL.
Pastor Tim Hawsey, Relay Center coordinator, said the shoe boxes are distributed by trained local pastors and volunteers around the world…right where the children live. The children that receive the box are invited to participate in a twelve step bible study called The Greatest Journey translated into their native language and taught by local people the children know.
Collection hours at the First Baptist Church of Bratt will be:
- Thursday, Nov. 16: 9 a.m. -noon, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 17: 9 a.m. -noon, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov . 18: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 19: 9 a.m. -noon, 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 20: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
“This is about being a blessing and bringing God’s love and hope to children in poverty around the world that would not receive it otherwise. We have gone through the intense process of been approved as a church to be a Relay Center to collect the boxes from individuals, families, and churches of our area, document and pack them into special cartons and take them to the next level for Samaritan’s Purse, and we have been blessed to do it for eight years now,” Hawsey said.
Operation Christmas Child boxes should be packed in a specific manner. For more information, call Hawsey at the First Baptist Church of Bratt at (850) 327-6529, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ, or call (800) 353-5949. Resources are available for churches that wish to participate.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Deadline Near For FFA Smoked Meat Orders, Citrus Sale Continues
November 15, 2017
The order deadline is today for the annual Northview High School FFA Alumni Smoked Turkey and Boston Butt Sale. And, the Northview FFA’s Fruit Sale is also underway with delivery before Christmas.
Turkeys And Boston Butts
In the annual fund raiser, you can choose either a seven to nine pound smoked Boston butt or a 10-12 pound smoked turkey for $30 each.
Boston butts will be available for pickup on Monday, November 20, and the the smoked turkeys will be available for pickup on Tuesday, November 21 at either Highland Baptist Church in Molino or the Northview Ag Department (complete pickup details are on the order form).
Proceeds from the sale will go to benefit the Northview High School FFA Scholarship Fund. The sale is sponsored by Archie’s Catering Smokehouse in Molino. For a printable order form, click here. Orders must be placed by Thursday, November 16 .
Fruit Sale
The NHS FFA is selling citrus and other fruits, including naval oranges, grapefruit, oranges tangerines, pears, pineapples and sweet potatoes.
Orders must be made by Tuesday, November 28. Delivery is expected during the week of December 11 with pickup at the Northview Ag Department. Direct delivery to anywhere in the Continental U.S. is also available.
To order, visit https://fundraising-market.com/northview-ffa/#SHOP.
For more information, call (850) 327-6681, ext. 248.
International Group Visits Northview High’s Ag Program, FFA
November 14, 2017
The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council and the U.S. Department of State hosted an international delegation Monday at Northview High School. The group met with Northview High FFA students and agriscience instructors to learn about the benefits of experiential learning for students and how students are able to translate skills from agricultural education to entrepreneurship activities.
The group is visiting programs such as the Northview FFA to learn leadership strategies and communication skills used to manage political and social challenges.
While on the Northview campus, the international group also had a chance to get up close with the beef cattle raised on site by FFA and agricultural program students.
Participants were from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
SpongeBob: Downtown Pensacola Crowd Yells ‘Chocolate’ Thanks To North Escambia Residents
November 14, 2017
“Chocolate!”
A sizeable crowd gathered at the Palafox Pier in downtown Pensacola Monday evening with a single purpose — to yell “Chocolate!” repeatedly. As strange as it may sound, it was a social media experiment of sorts and a tribute to a SpongeBob Squarepants episode. And the brainchild of two North Escambia residents — Morgan Payne and Steven Gregory of Bratt.
Many say “Chocolate” is one the greatest SpongeBob episodes ever, as Patrick and SpongeBob go out selling chocolates door to door. One one house, the man just starts screaming “Chocolate” over and over.
“Well one day I was thinking it would be hilarious to just have a bunch of people meet in this public place and scream “‘Chocolates’ like in the SpongeBob episode, so I told my friend Steven Gregory about it and and he was all for it,” Payne said. “So we both planned it together. Honestly we thought it would be a joke and no one would ever show up but me and him and maybe a few of our friends.”
But they were surprised as their Facebook event page had over 500 people interested and 200 committed to attending. By Monday, the day of the event, over 1,300 people were following and almost 400 people had shared.
“When we got there, we were surprised that there were actually quite a bunch of people we had never even seen before there,” Payne said. “Everyone yelled so loud for about 15 minutes, then the rest of the time we sang songs from SpongeBob.”
Payne and Gregory are already planning to do a “flash mob” again — the exact details are still in the works.
“There were a lot of people who wanted to come but couldn’t because of work or sickness so we are definitely going to do something like this again,” she said.
A video and scenes from the event are below. Video and photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photo: Yellow Gold And White
November 12, 2017
Pictured: The yellow gold sky and white cotton crop seen during Saturday afternoon’s sunset on Gobbler Road in Oak Grove. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Century Honors Veterans (With Photo Gallery)
November 10, 2017
The Town of Century held a program to honor veterans Thursday afternoon at the Century Community Center. The program featured patriotic music from the Byrneville Elementary School choir, the presentation of the colors and an American flag folding demonstration by the Northview High School Naval JROTC. Guest speaker was Century resident Sgt. Major Hal Carnley who retired with 31-years military service.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
