Beat the Heat, Core Value: Collaboration, & Get to Know Elianna
Beat the Heat, Core Value: Collaboration, & Get to Know Elianna
August 2016
Mobile Pantry Newsletter
A Message from the Editor
Hello to all of our Mobile Pantry Agency Partners!
We are now in the middle of summer and enjoying all of the beautiful summer produce as well as the nice weather. While we take advantage of the longer days and warmer temperatures we would also like to remind you to stay safe in the sun. Please remember to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen and sunglasses to protect yourself from the gorgeous sun and encourage your volunteers and clients to do the same. Your health and well-being are keys to our success.
We look forward to working with you throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall.
Shay Krick
School Pantry Assistant
Mobile Pantry Newsletter Editor
Tips and Tricks: Summer Safety for Volunteers and Clients
With summer heat comes the added risk of both heat exhaustion and heat stroke. It's important to know the differences between the two and how to treat them.
Heat Exhaustion Symptoms:
- Faint or Dizzy Feeling
- Excessive Sweating
- Cool, Pale, Clammy Skin
- Nausea or Vomiting
- Rapid, Weak Pulse
- Muscle Cramps
What to Do for Heat Exhaustion:
Take the individual to a cooler, air-conditioned place. Have them drink water, slowly, as long as they are fully conscious. If possible, have them take a cool shower or use cold compresses on the face and back of neck to cool the body.
Heat Stroke Symptoms:
- Throbbing Headache
- No Sweating
- Body Temperature Above 103 Degrees
- Red, Hot, Dry Skin
- Nausea or Vomiting
- Rapid, Strong Pulse      
- May Lose Consciousness
What to Do for Heat Stroke:
Call 9-1-1 immediately. Take immediate action to cool the person off until help arrives.
How You Can Prevent Heat Illness:
The best way to prevent serious illness from the heat at your distributions is to be both prepared and alert. Although it is not required at Mobile Pantry distributions, providing water to drink is an excellent way to help volunteers and clients stay hydrated. Also, consider moving your line-up area to a place that has a little shade. Most of all, be aware of what is happening at your distribution. Keep your eyes open for anyone who might be suffering from a heat-related illness and be ready to respond accordingly. 
With your help, we can keep everyone healthy and safe throughout the hot summer months.
Our Values: Collaboration
Definition: Working to build strong, trusting, and mutually beneficial relationships with our community partners for the purpose of solving hunger.
What It Means to Us:
Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. Whether we are working with our agency partners, board members, clients or even the national Feeding America office, we will do everything we can to create and foster strong partnerships. These partnerships will help us to achieve our ultimate goal of defeating hunger.
What It Looks Like In Practice:
Listening. When we listen to each other and make changes to accommodate each other's needs, we all become more effective in our mission.
Get to Know Us: Elianna Bootzin, School Pantry Coordinator
Q: What brought you to Feeding America West Michigan?
A: John Arnold. I had just finished college and was looking for a job. John was the father of a friend and had an office full of  news articles and reports that he needed someone to read through, sort and file for him. It was a match made in heaven.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: I'm an introvert, so it's really nice to have regularly scheduled "alone" time in the kitchen preparing the samples of fruit or veggie-centric dishes for our school and senior sites. 
Q: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: All kinds of things! In elementary school, I started ballet lessons so someday I'd be ready to play Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. In middle school, I wanted to be a marine biologist so I could hang out with dolphins. 
Q: What is your favorite hobby outside of work?
A: That's tough! I would have to say reading or theatre. Or maybe gardening.
Q: What is a place you would like to visit that you've never been?
A: I want to take a train trip out West to Glacier National Park in Montana, then Portland or Seattle.
Q: What is one fact about yourself a lot of people do not know?
A: Even though I am entirely appropriate at work, I really like swearing!
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