Cumberland County Health Watch

Cumberland County Health Watch Overview

A Proposal to Promote Healthy Living in Cumberland County

Cumberland County has recently been ranked by NJ.com as the most-unhealthiest in the state (21st of 21 counties) due to high obesity rates which often leads to diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses. As part of existing efforts by various Cumberland County health organizations to reverse this trend, an idea of making May 2018 Cumberland County Healthy Living Month is being pursued.

Here’s the why and how behind the initiative and the children, families and students who will benefit from the proceeds of the event.

Your contribution will not only serve to increase awareness of the critical health issues that plague Cumberland County but will serve to fund the organizations and volunteers and staff personnel who work every day to make Cumberland County a healthier place to live. The proceeds will also support Cumberland County students pursuing a career in a health-related field.

It’s a month-long awareness campaign with county residents participating in breaking four Guinness World Records on Wednesday, May 23. The Guinness event is to serve as a trigger to get a large swath of the population to engage in the awareness theme while also helping to shed the apathy attached to our being last in regard to healthy living in New Jersey. Being at the top of the world … even for one day … could create a huge psychological boost for those individuals who have rarely experienced winning. It may be just the spark for them to look at life just a little bit differently.

This effort is targeting school pupils, adult males and females, plus senior citizens in Cumberland County. To help draw attention to the May Healthy Living month, a major effort is being put forth to try and break Guinness World Records in each age group, which should make these popular events to participate in while bringing attention one’s health.

The Guinness World Record category being pursued will be “Group Health Awareness Lesson in multiple locations” with these proposed sub-categories:
– Adolescents (10-19)
– Adults: Two categories: Male and Female (20 and older)
– Senior Citizens (65 and older)

• Please note, since these are newer records in the Guinness library, we are confident that all records will be held by Cumberland County at the end of the day on May 23, 2018.

Also, Major League Baseball superstar Mike Trout, a lifelong Cumberland County resident, has agreed to support this event in “honorary” status. Since this event takes place during the season, Mike will not be able to participate, but he will generate great interest in encouraging participation to this event.

By attempting and hopefully breaking these four Guinness World Records, it will generate local, regional and national attention to Cumberland County – and in a positive way.

This will also be a great opportunity to disseminate information on the many health services available to citizens and school children of Cumberland County who participate in this event.

The Guinness event is just one of the many activities/programs that will take place during the month of May. Though collaboration of health/wellness partners, a full calendar of events will provide residents an endless list of programs and activities to attend across the county each and every day of the month.

We are currently looking for partners to participate in this unique health event. If you are interested in participating, please contact Melanie Druziako at [email protected], or Jerry Covella at [email protected], or (609) 364-6705.

Oops! We could not locate your form.