Lee MPO named Injury Prevention Organization of the Year by Lee Injury Prevention Coalition

 On December 18th, the Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition (a BikeWalkLee supporter organization) presented its annual injury prevention awards, including awards to the Lee MPO, Healthy Lee Coalition, and Florida Weekly for their efforts to promote safer biking and walking, and promote community awareness about injury prevention.  Kudos to all the award winners and thanks to IPC for recognizing the contributions of community leaders and organizations who are making a difference in Lee County.

The Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition is a partnership of more than 80 public and private agencies whose mission is to prevent injury, disability and death among people of all ages through advocacy, education, legislation, and partnerships.  Below are highlights from the December 18th award ceremony:

Brian Ramando accepts MPO award from Dan Moser

Injury Prevention Organization of the Yr. – Metropolitan Planning Organization Don Scott – Director, Lee County MPO

Much of the public and many professionals are unaware of the significant role the Metropolitan Planning Organization has in keeping them safe and improving their travel. The MPO has supported the implementation and adherence of the Lee County Bike/Ped. Safety Action Plan and has taken an active role in identifying and improving the transportation environment for all users. When we look for crash data and areas to target outreach and prevention efforts, the MPO is quick to assist by providing detailed information of hazardous locations. They could have easily passed on trying to apply for a very competitive TIGER grant, but instead took on the challenge, applied and were awarded a $10 plus million dollar grant that will be used to enhance and improve services for thousands of road and path users in this county. The MPO has been active and engaged partners in helping to ensure safe travel throughout Lee County. To recognize these efforts the MPO has been named the “Injury Prevention Organization of the Year.”

Injury Prevention Media Partner of the Yr. –    Florida Weekly

Outreach is just “out” if it has no “reach.”  A strong media partner extends the “reach” of our outreach efforts. Florida Weekly has supported multiple prevention efforts throughout the year. They regularly ran Bike/Ped. editorials, senior fall prevention pieces and distracted driving articles from Stay Alive Just Drive. With so many competing issues to cover, it’s difficult for a media outlet to deliver all of the messages it finds important. We sincerely thank Florida Weekly for making the effort to consistently report on and support many of our community health and safety initiatives. The IPC is pleased to name Florida Weekly as “Injury Prevention Media Partner of the Yr.”

Dr. Judith Hartner and Sally Jackson accepting Healthy Lee award

Injury Prevention Program/Outreach Effort of the Yr. – “Healthy Lee” Initiative Sally Jackson- System Director, Government and Community Relations

“Healthy Lee” is a community initiative dedicated to promoting a healthier Lee County. It is an effort not only focused on health and wellness, but also chronic disease prevention, workplace wellness and behavioral health. “Health Lee” and it’s slogan “Choose, Commit, Change” summarizes the objectives of the initiative; that we have the ability to improve our health by choosing alternative foods, participating in healthy activities and eliminating harmful habits. “Healthy Lee” successfully collaborated with Lee Memorial Hospital, the DOH of Lee County to rally the greater business community to promote these concepts and successfully implement Lee Counties first of many “Streets Alive” events.  The Lee Co. IPC is pleased to recognize “Healthy Lee” as the Injury Prevention Program/Outreach Effort of the Yr.  

Other IPC Award Winners:

• Injury Prevention Sponsor/Partner of the Yr. – Abby Services
• Injury Prevention Citizen Volunteer of the Yr. –   Reggie McKinnon
• Injury Prevention Professional of the Yr. –   Susan Lindenmuth
• Injury Prevention Lifetime Achievement –             Dave Kainrad

  

  Mark Tesoro presents award to Dave Kainrad