Dear SK/SC Coordinators:
Hope you are all doing well and welcome to the May edition of the
monthly updates. Before I delve into the monthly occupant protection and
DUI prevention activities, I would like to inform you all that this
month’s featured brave SK/SC coordinator is Jacklyn Damm. Thank you
Jacky.
General Information
* As mentioned at the May 05, 2003 SK/SC quarterly meeting, MOST
of Us campaign has created both a list of May Mobilization activities
and an evaluation survey that was sent to all of you electronically.
Please contact me at 994-7754 if you are having trouble accessing the
files or if you have any questions regarding the material.
* Once again, on a general note, I would like to remind all SK/SC
Coordinators to strategically think about the target audiences to whom
you distribute the promotional items throughout May Mobilization. Please
refer to the activity list for ideas on distributing both seatbelt and
DUI promotional items throughout May Mobilization and the summer. Once
again, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
* For those communities where Erin and I conducted focus groups, I
am in midst of the analysis and will be sending you a complete report on
each of your respective communities in the next month or two. If there
is an urgent need for the results in terms of activities that you may be
working on, please feel free to contact me and let me know.
MOST of Us Prevent Drinking and Driving Campaign
* The major activities associated with the DUI Campaign have come
to a close, at least until this fall. Currently, The MOST of Us Prevent
Drinking and Driving television and radio ads are running as PSAs
throughout the state. They will continue to air on both television and
radio until the end of September. As Erin mentioned in the previous
update, certain coordinators expressed the willingness to contact their
local stations and explain the importance of airing these ads (from an
SK/SC point of view). If any coordinators still have questions regarding
these ads, please contact me.
MOST of Us Wear Seatbelts Campaign
* I hope the majority of you have heard the seatbelt ad that is
presently on air. For future reference, the third ad (“Protection and
Safety”) will be switched to a fourth ad (“Seatbelt Medley”) on May 19,
2003 on the radio stations where we have purchased media; the fourth ad
will run for the remainder of the media buy till June 15, 2003. The
“Protection and Safety” ad though will continue to run as a statewide
PSA on donated air time until the end of the summer. Please contact me
if you would like to know the specific media placement in your
particular area in order to listen for the messages.
* Regarding the statewide traveling billboards, there is one
placed in Laurel on Hwy 212 across from the Cenex refinery, two placed
in Billings (on Grand Avenue and on the Metra exit in Billings), and a
final billboard in Great Falls. I will keep you updated as to any
changes that may occur and where they will be moved to in the upcoming
months.
Update from Jacklyn Damm, Northeastern Montana SKSC, Sidney
Greetings from the Northeastern Montana Safe Kids Safe Communities Damm
Coordinator. I am sure you are all aware of the fact that we serve
Sheridan (i.e. Plentywood), McCone (i.e. Circle), and Richland (i.e.
Sidney) counties. The areas I work with are as close as possible to the
North Dakota and Canadian borders. My office is housed in Sidney at the
Richland County Health Department and I am fortunate to have the Office
of Public Assistance, WIC, and shot clinics on the same floor as my
office. These conveniently located services in my building have given me
the opportunity to target families while they are in the building and
relay to them the importance of seat belt safety and proper use, child
occupant protection and consequences of impaired driving. I also try to
discuss with them the importance of not being impaired while giving
their baby-sitter a ride home. Since the majority of these contacts are
not by appointment, we have been in need of more seats than when we do
planned checkpoints. Thus, I have come up with a new idea for funding
which is still in the planning stages but will be implemented soon.
The plan consists of sending letters to major businesses (Pepsi,
doctors, banks, etc.) starting in the Richland County area. These
letters will include all pertinent information to SK/SC, such as
statistics for unrestrained children, costs for an average car seat, and
what the businesses can do to help. I will also invite the businesses to
purchase as many seats as they would like to donate and in return they
will receive a certificate with a picture of a properly restrained child
in the seat that they purchased. The following is a possibility of what
will be embossed on the certificate: “Thanks to Dr. Jones, another child
in Richland County is riding safely.” My hope is not only will the
certificate be displayed with pride but also it will instigate a
competition between businesses to see who will purchase the most seats.
In order to gain more publicity, there will be a feature article in the
local newspaper, along with the previous letter that I mentioned above,
the children’s pictures, and the names of the donators of the seats.
After sharing this idea with Patty Carrell, she has requested that I
take it on as a pilot project and report on it at a quarterly meeting.
I still have some details to iron out, so any suggestions you have for
making this project a success would be greatly appreciated. Please feel
free to call me (433-2207) and share your expertise and ideas.
I hope you are all having a great spring and I wish you all the best in
your upcoming projects. It was great to see everyone in Helena this
week. As always, I was inspired by the creativity and companionship
shared by all of us who are involved at SK/SC one of the greatest
coalitions in the state of Montana. I welcome any suggestions and ideas;
please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may
have at 433-2207 or jdhealth@richland.org.
Peace,
Jacklyn Damm
Northeastern Montana Safe Kids Safe Communities
That’s it for May. Once again, thank you all for your hard work and
dedication to making Montana a healthier and safer place to live for all
of us.
Seetha