The first annual Shopping Festival to benefit Central Illinois’ Easter Seals will be held Saturday December 6^th at the Holiday Inn City Center from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. This event will be a one-stop shop for all of your holiday shopping needs, featuring vendors and representatives offering a variety of different products. The Easter Seals Shopping Festival will begin at 10:00 am in the Holiday Inn City Center’s Hamilton Room. A small optional donation will be taken at the door for Easter Seals.

Vendors will have booths set up with a variety of products for sale. Representatives from Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Party Lite, Seeds of Grace, Avon, Premier Jewelry, and more will be on hand. Product categories range from bakery, children’s books, hair bows, jewelry, skin care, and home décor. Vendors are also giving between 10-20% of their sales that day back to Easter Seals to support our cause. Door prizes from our vendors will be given away throughout the day and a silent auction to benefit Easter Seals will also be held. To help guests with their holiday shopping, a gift wrapping table will be available with all proceeds going towards the Easter Seals donation. Each gift can be wrapped with a bow for $3, with boxes available for an extra $1. Homemade hot chocolate packages will also be available to purchase for $3 with a variety of toppings and conveniently packaged for the perfect stocking stuffer.

For additional information on Downtown Peoria 1^st Annual Shopping Festival to Benefit Easter Seals, contact Trisha Thurman.

Saturday, November 22

10:00 a.m. - Noon Free Coffee Sampling by Not Your Average Joe, an independent coffee shop in Dunlap, IL.

10:00 a.m. - Demonstration: Arranging Your Holiday Mantle FREE. Learn tips on how to add a designer’s touch to your mantle or tabletop.

4:00 p.m. - Holiday Drawings! Prizes include a Willow Tree Collectible signed by the artist. No purchase necessary. Must be present to win. 18 and older. One registration per family.

 All materials provided. No experience necessary. These Make-It-&-Take-It Sessions fill quickly. Call or stop by the Garden Center at Hoerr Nursery to sign up.

TROUBLE IN TOYLAND:  CONSUMER GROUP TO RELEASE ANNUAL REPORT ON TOY HAZARDS 

WHAT:       
Illinois PIRG will release its 23^rd annual toy safety report, which has led to corrective action on more than 130 toys over the last two decades. 

Participants will demonstrate toy hazards and alert parents to hazards that are still on store shelves, such as toys with small parts, and toys containing toxic chemicals.  

The group will also explain what Congress did this year to protect the public from dangerous toys, following a wave of recalls of millions of toys for toxic lead, choking and small magnet hazards in the past two years 

WHEN:        Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 11 A.M 

WHERE:      Children’s Hospital of Illinois, 530 NE Glen Oak Ave, Peoria, IL

WHO:          Maggie Yonkers, Illinois PIRG, State Senator Koehler, 46^th District, John Hafner, M.D., Emergency Medicine, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center 

VISUALS:    Demonstrations of unsafe toys

Medal of Honor Awarded by U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 

For the fourth consecutive year, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria has been awarded the national Medal of Honor by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its work in saving and enhancing lives through organ and tissue donation.

            OSF Saint Francis is the only downstate medical center to have been awarded the Medal of  Honor every year since its inception. OSF was one of 19 Illinois hospitals receiving the 2008 award, and one of 413 hospitals across the country being honored for their exemplary leadership and commitment to organ donors, donor families, and the nearly 100,000 patients on the national transplant waiting list.

            OSF Saint Francis and the other hospitals all work with Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, the organ procurement organization that coordinates organ and tissue donations in central
Illinois and other parts of the state. The winners represent hospitals with eight or more potential organ donors during the 26-month award period ending in June 2008, who sustained a donation rate of 75 percent or higher from among eligible donors for at least a year. The percentage reflects the rate at which potential donors at the time of death actually become lifesaving donors.

            Through a national initiative started in 2003 called the Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative, best practices for the donation process were established. The Breakthrough Collaborative’s success has directly contributed to the continuing increase in the number of organs transplanted each year since 2003.

In an effort to say thank you to the community for the warm reception Dave and Julie Tilley have received upon opening Tilley’s, located at the River Station, the owners have planned a special ‘Lunch with Santa,’ for children who might not otherwise have such an opportunity, on Sunday, December 21, 2008. 

Watch for more Event details which will be announced at a special Press Conference to be held on November 24^th at 10:30 a.m. at Tilley’s.

The event is co-sponsored in part by Lite Rock 107 and Counseling and Family Services. More than 250 children and their parents are expected to be treated to lunch and a gift at this ‘Lunch with Santa’ event.

Family House announces Christmas Magic 2008, an enchanting event for families following the annual Santa Claus Parade in downtown Peoria. Christmas Magic includes a luncheon with Christmas Wish Princesses, entertainment by Mr. and Mrs. Magic and the Peoria Ballet, the opportunity for pictures with Santa, and more.  Christmas Magic will be held at The Pere Marquette Hotel, 501 Main Street, Peoria, on Friday, November 28, beginning at 12:00 p.m. Christmas Magic is sponsored by Ameren, Caterpillar, Inc., and Children’s Hospital of Illinois with proceeds benefiting Family House, Inc., Peoria hospital hospitality house. Many wonderful silent auction items will be available the day of the event. A 52’’ LCD Toshiba HDTV from Sherman’s sponsored by Central Illinois Radiological Associates will be raffled off and tickets can be purchased by contacting Family House.Tickets are $15 for children and $20 for adults. Tables of 10 are available. Seating is limited.

Tickets may be purchased by mailing a check to Family House, 1509 N. Knoxville Ave., Peoria, IL
61603, or with a credit card by calling Family House (309-685-5300). Please make all checks payable to Family House. For more information, visit our website at www.familyhousepeoria.org.

The Peoria City/County Health Department announces that Thursday, November 20th, 2008 is the 33rd annual Great American Smoke Out Day. On this day, the health department is urging the citizens of Peoria County who smoke to quit smoking and enjoy the health benefits of being tobacco-free.

In Peoria County, 15% of the population smokes. Every year, more than 20,000 residents of Illinois die as a result of cigarette smoking. In the United States, 1 out of 5 deaths are attributed to smoking each year. This number accounts for more smoking related deaths than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, drugs, and fires combined.

Once someone quits smoking, the health benefits begin. Within 20 minutes of quitting, blood pressure and heart rate decreases. Within 8 hours of quitting, the oxygen level in the blood increases to normal. Within 24 hours of quitting, the chance of a heart attack decreases and the lung function begins to improve. Five to 15 years after quitting, the risk of many diseases, including cancer and stroke, decreases dramatically.

In addition to encouraging smokers to make a plan to quit, the Great American Smoke Out is a day for all Illinois residents to join the American Cancer Society and other public health advocates in their efforts to continue supporting the Smoke-Free law of Illinois. The combination of smoke-free communities and smoking cessation support is critical to helping smokers quit and stay tobacco-free.

The Peoria City/County Health Department offers a smoking cessation program called “Break the Habit” funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health.  Free nicotine patches and telephone counseling are available through the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. Any
Peoria County resident who wants more information or to participate in any of the program services can contact the tobacco quitline at 1-866-QUIT-YES or the Peoria City/County Health Department at 679-6131.

Saturday, November 22nd, from 2:00 -4:00 p.m., local author Ed Pickell will sign his book, “Through the Eyes of a Child.” A delightful collection of Christmas poems for the young and the young at heart.

Saturday, December 6^th, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.  Photojournalist David Zalaznik will sign his book, “Life Along the Illinois River.” A dazzling collection of photographs portraying the many facets of the Illinois River and its border communities.

I Know You Like A Book offers new and used books, gift items and a wine bar featuring a unique selection of wines, beers, and soft drinks. Located at 4707 Prospect Rd., Peoria.

519 NE Glendale Avenue in Peoria on Friday, November 14, 1:30 p.m. Bradley University students will deliver school supplies to Irving School, 519 NE Glendale Avenue in Peoria, on Friday at 1:30 p.m. replacing some of those damaged when the school was vandalized last month. Many campus organizations, individuals, faculty members, and students in Bradley’s Department of Teacher Education have donated supplies valued at more than $1000.   

Bradley alumna Denyse Hagamann teaches first grade at Irving and her classroom was one that was damaged. She and other teachers will receive books, bulletin board materials, flash cards, writing boards, rugs, crayons, pencils and other supplies.     

The effort has been coordinated by Dr. Patricia Chrosniak of the Department of Teacher Education.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children’s Hospital of Illinois at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL has been named the top-performing NICU in the world based on patient outcomes for 2005-07.  

The NICU shared information on its multidisciplinary team approach with more than 600 other NICU’s around the world through the Vermont Oxford Network, a voluntary, not-for-profit collaboration of high-risk nurseries dedicated to improving patient care.  Data related to practices, outcomes and patient care specific to each participating institution is included in a comprehensive database.   

Specific complications evaluated included chronic lung disease, infections, bleeding into the brain, death, eye disease, and other intestinal and lung complications. The differences in patient populations were also taken into consideration to make accurate comparison possible. 

The Children’s Hospital NICU is also in the top ten percent for shortest length of stay in the hospital.  

“It’s great that the world gets a glimpse of what I get to see every day,” said Pat Hegwood, patient care manager of the NICU. “I am delighted and incredibly proud of everyone’s involvement in caring for the kids and embracing family-centered care.” 

Dr. James Hocker, neonatologist and medical director of the NICU, added:  “If you are a parent coming through the door it is important to know how we compare to others; your child is going to have a better stay and a better outcome at Children’s Hospital of Illinois than he would at another center.”