County designated ‘Healthier Community’
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The five representatives that attended the event include from left to right: Jamie Jordan, Clinton Coordinated School Health; Shayla Sanderson, Oak Ridge Coordinated School Health; Anna Hurt, Anderson County Schools Coordi- nated School Health; Art Miller, Director Anderson County Health Dept.; and Kathy Scruggs, Health Educator at the Anderson County Health Department. - Crystal Huskey
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Kathy Scruggs, Health Educator at Anderson County Health Department receives the Volunteer Coalition Member of the Year Award. - Crystal Huskey
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Stacey Pratt of ASAP receives the Communities Tobacco Initiative award. from Stacy Baugues - Crystal Huskey
In February, Anderson County was designated a Healthier Tennessee Community by the Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness, an organization dedicated to enabling and encouraging Tennesseans to lead healthier lives.
Anderson County was named a BRONZE Healthier Tennessee Community’ based on local engagement, promotional efforts, and measurable progress to address critical health challenges.
“We are grateful for the many citizen volunteers leading our Healthier Tennessee Communities,” said Governor’s Foundation CEO Richard Johnson.
“Our success would not be possible without their extraordinary efforts and contributions.”
Art Miller, director of the Anderson County Health Department, noted that “... working with our local group of ActiveAndersonTN has been a delight.
“This is a great group of energetic go- getters and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish in the short time we’ve been in existence.”
Healthier Tennessee Communities’ is a signature Governor’s Foundation initiative that encourages cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, and college campuses across Tennessee to implement sustainable, localized initiatives to improve nutrition, increase physical activity, and encourage tobacco cessation.
More than 200 elected officials, community leaders, and Healthier Tennessee Community committee members from across Tennessee attended the awards gala, which took place at Graystone Quarry in Franklin.
In addition to awarding 33 communities with a gold, silver, or bronze designation, the event also honored innovative initiatives and individual achievements. ActiveAndersonTN won two awards in this latter category.
The first award went to Stacey Pratt of ASAP for the superb work she has done to combat vaping and other tobacco use among youth.
The Youth Ambassador group, sponsored by ASAP, consists of students in all three public high schools who are working to mentor youth and raise awareness of addictive and other troublesome health issues related to tobacco and drug use.
Additionally, Kathy Scruggs of the Anderson County Health Department received the Volunteer Coalition member of the Year award.
Memorial United Methodist Church in Clinton was a runner up for the Place of Worship Wellness Award for their efforts in promoting healthy practices among the parishioners and the community.
The Foundation launched the Healthier Tennessee Communities initiative in March 2015 with nine pilot communities. Today, nearly 100 communities, neighborhoods, and college campuses are engaged with the program, and 33 have received the designation.
More information about the communities program, including a list of participating cities and counties and other Healthier Tennessee® initiatives, like the Small Starts® suite of interactive wellness tools, is available at healthierTN.com.