Wednesday on “First Coast Connect, Virginia Hall, senior director for Advocacy and Community Engagement at St. Vincent’s HealthCare told us about Saturday’s Medical Mission at Home. Meghan Fiveash, the community relations manager for Native Sun Food Market, discussed the company’s new policy to stop offering plastic grocery bags. Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library’s president Sylvia Wren and board member Margaret Smith told us about the upcoming book sale, and travel blogger Judy Wells talked about her recent trip to Hawaii.
Medical Mission at Home
The rate of U.S. adults without health insurance jumped in the first quarter of 2017, as the Trump administration failed to repeal Obamacare and replace it with its own health care reform bill. The latest Gallup-Healthways poll finds 11.3 percent of U.S. adults didn't have health insurance in the first quarter of the year, compared to 10.9 percent of adults uninsured in the third and fourth quarters of 2016.
To help those without insurance, St. Vincent’s HealthCare is holding the Medical Mission at Home from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Prime Osborn Center. Volunteers will provide free medical care. Services include basic medical care and testing, including a limited number of mammograms, emergency dental care, behavioral health consultations, vision and hearing screenings, as well as providing food, clothing and haircuts.
Native Sun- Plastic Bags
They’re convenient and popular, but plastic grocery bags do damage to the environment.The bags entangle wildlife in debris that floats into waterways, accumulate in the digestive tracts of fish — which can move up the food chain into people — and jam expensive machinery at recycling plants. Jacksonville recently stopped collecting the bags for recycling. This month, Native Sun Natural Foods Market announced it’s discontinuing the use of plastic grocery bags at all three locations. They will instead provide paper bags made from recycled material and encourage the use of reusable bags. Native Sun plans to giveaway 500 reusable grocery bags at the Opening of the Beaches Parade on April 30.
Friends of the Library Booksale
Big bags of books, bargains and an opportunity to help libraries. That's what customers will get when they shop at this weekend at the Friends of Jacksonville Public Library Book Sale. The sale starts with Member Night from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the University Park Library. Membership in FJPL can be purchased at the door for $10. Members will be able to purchase a paper grocery bag of books for $15 and get a second bag for free. The sale is available to the general public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. If you purchase two bags of books, you get a third bag free.
Judy Wells
Wells’ trip to Hawaii focused on the four big islands. She talked about the many sites and the history of the Island chain. Her next trip will be to Warsaw, Poland.
Producer Kevin Meerschaert can be reached at kmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax.
