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26 - "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, Io Durham Region Health Department and the Council for a Tobacco Free Durham Region will "once again offer resi- dents a chance to win great prizes and improve their health in the Quit Smoking 2001 Contest. This province-wide contest will help encour- age smokers to stop smoking by March | and remain smoke-free for at least the entire month of March. This year prizes include a Caribbean cruise for two, one of seven RCA DVD players and a set of his and her watches. "It's not easy to quit smoking," says Jennifer Burgess, a public health - nurse with Durham Region Health Department. "It helps if you're mentally prepared ~> and you have supports in place when the going gets tough." The contest is designed to help peo- ple both prepare for and quit smoking.by March I. The March | cut-off gives participants approxi- mately six weeks to work through the stages that lead to successful quit- ting, line up a non-smok- ing buddy for support and learn about local resources to help them in their efforts. According to Ms Burgess, smokers who want to quit should begin by thinking about why they smoke, why they want to quit, and how », they'll cope with the urges and pressures to smoke after they've quit. Contest participants are required to enlist the help 'of a non-smoking buddy who will give them support along the way. Gain creative and sffective job, search io search hakills view skills, 4 " il Uys i rit ga iy BEd FERRET Cruise, DVD are among prizes in region's quit smoking contest All buddies must by 19 years of age or older and are also eligible to win cash prizes. A recent health department survey showed that 29 per cent of Durham Region adults aged 18 years and older are current smokers. Smoking and exposure to second hand smoke are both - leading pre- ventable causes of death and disease accounting for 17 per cent of all deaths and 7 per cent of hospitalizations in Canada. "The ways of quitting are as varied as the peo- ple who smoke," explains Ms Burgess. "We know that smokers go through five stages of being smoke-free - having no thought of quitting, think- ing about quitting, get- ting ready to quit, quit- ting, and becoming and remaining smoke-free. The goal of the contest is to provide incentives to help smokers: move to the quitting stage and then give them the sup- ports to help them quit." The Quit Smoking 2001 Contest is open to all Ontario residents 19 years of age and older who are daily smokers. Contest entries must be received by midnight Feb. 28. Smokers must quit smoking-by March | and remain smoke-free until March 31 to qualify for the contest prize draws. For more information about the contest or for an entry form, please call Durham Region Health Department at (905) 723- 8521 or 1-800-841-2729, ext. 2125. Entry forms are also available online at www.simcoehealth.org. Job, Finding Club can help market, effective inter- preparing ov Human k jo tees Development n Feb. 5 to C Province funds Road Watch program Sone TE oes Scugoy Road Wate h Five Thouss agi IC we » ¥ 3 bE $- >i Y $3 v3 () Hoi Fs Durham MPP John O'Toole made a special presentation during this week's Scugog council meeting when he presented the local RoadWatch program with a cheque for $5,000. On hand for the presentation were, from left, ind CHRIS HALL/WEEKEND STAR Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt, Mr. O'Toole, Regional Councillor Ken Carruthers, Durham Regional Police 26 Division Inspector Bill Temple and Fred Heap, chairperson of the local RoadWatch initiative. Province is seeking nominations Time to recognize volunteers: MPP Durham MPP John O'Toole is encouraging vol- unteer organizations in the area to submit their nomi- nations for Ontario's volun- teer recognition awards programs. "The contributions our volunteers make to our community are invaluable," said Mr. O'Toole. "But, with 2001 being designated as the International Year of Volunteers, the awards take on special significance." "In Ontario, volunteers give more than 422 million hours every year to more than 60,000 organizations," the Durham MPP said. "One out of every three people in this province does some kind of volun- teer work each year - dedi- cating time and energy to helping others. The awards program is intended to give these community-minded individuals the recognition they deserve." Three annual Ontario awards programs are a way to thank volunteers and recognize their work. These programs include: a The Ontario Volunteer Service Awards, which rec- ognize volunteers for con- tinuous service with a com- munity group. a The Outstanding Achievement Awards for Voluntarism in Ontario, which recognize superla- tive volunteer work by indi- viduals, groups or busi- nesses. a The Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers, which is presented to youths between 15 and 24 years of age in recognition of their outstanding achievements. The deadline for com- pleting nomination forms is March 2, 2001. Awards ceremonies will be held in the spring. Volunteer organizations have already received their nomination packages. However, anyone who would like nomination forms or further information may contact John O'Toole's Constituency Office at 75 King St. E., Bowmanville, Ont. LIC IN4 or phone (905) 697-1501 or toll free at 1-800-661-2433. Port Perry Hospital Auxiliary Report New COO welcomed by auxiliary members By Mary Cannon sibility. The January meeting of the Community Memorial Hospital Auxiliary was held on Jan. 15 with a very good attendance. We were pleased to welcome Chris Cooy C.0.0. of Lakeside Corp. Chris is very enthusiastic and is doing a very good job. Pat Taylor as chair of the fundraising committee gave her report. Many interesting ideas were discussed. To start off it was decided to have an auction sale at our February meeting. It will be a good way to get rid of some of those odds and ends that we will no longer use or want. It also is a lot of fun. We are also thinking of having a yard sale 2 at the Pentecostal Church Hall. More information soon. The gift shop, as usual, is doing well. Drop in and find that special gift that you have been looking for. Muriel showed more of the lovely knitted items including more mitts, which will be sold in the gift shop. Since November and December, 18 boys and 22 girls have been born in The New Life Centre. Each newborn is given a lovely pair of booties. It was voted on and decided that we purchase an incubator and pasteurizer for the hospital. There are still a few calendars for sale. Our spring luncheon will be held on Wednesday, May ro ns vill let ; ] = please contact Cathleen MPT al aT al al Bab al pla aS aR al ah aA AV 0 VL FSV 0h 8 ov 4h and a committee has been formed to look into the pos- Our next meeting will be on Feb. 15. tA AAA NA AA AAA AA RRR RR AL ES A NEBL TFEL GEOL VIEOPV COCCHI V OVP NOV V OV VPN COCO POOR ROOO S24 A