APHA gives back: Attendees donate, volunteer to help out local families

For MPH student Jenny Nguy, attending APHA’s 2018 Annual Meeting and Expo was about more than just networking and hearing from public health leaders. It was also about giving back to the local community.

Which is how Nguy ended up spending an hour Sunday morning gluing together popsicle stick frames with a group of other APHA 2018 volunteers. At tables around Nguy, other Annual Meeting volunteers cut, glued and assembled scrapbooking pages. The crafts will be used by Home Start, a San Diego child abuse prevention and treatment agency, in its work with families and children.

“I wanted to make a difference and help out as much as I can,” said Nguy, who is attending the Annual Meeting for the first time as part of Sunday’s Student Day.

Nguy was one of more than 100 attendees who signed up to volunteer at APHA 2018 through APHA’s Help Us Help Them program. Each year, Help Us Help Them chooses a local nonprofit group that meeting attendees can donate to during registration. About $10,000 was raised by APHA 2018 attendees for Home Start this year. The organization works to prevent and treat child abuse by addressing the conditions that can contribute to risky or abusive situations in the community and addressing individual self-sufficiency and emotional needs.

While Home Start regularly holds group volunteer events, the APHA Annual Meeting was its first conference activity, said Glenda Maxwell, Home Start’s director of human resources. In addition to the craft projects, APHA 2018 volunteers assembled hygiene kits with products such as shampoo and hand wipes, with a goal of creating 300 bags. Organizers were hoping to create 250 scrapbook pages and hundreds of popsicle frames during the event.

Such volunteer activities and support are vital for Home Start, which provides behavioral health services, maternity housing for homeless women, parent education and more.

“It allows us to provide the services that we do and serve more people in the community,” she said.

While APHA has been hosting the Help Us Help Them fundraising campaign for many years, this is only the second time that the Association has offered an on-site volunteer event.

Volunteers said they enjoyed the opportunity to meet and socialize with other attendees and also to practice what they preach in public health.

“I’m happy to give a little bit back,” said attendee Patricia Parker, MSPH, a public health analyst. “It was wonderful.”

To learn more about Home Start or make a donation to the organization, visit https://home-start.org.

You can read more about this story in the January 2019 issue of The Nation’s Health.

At top right: APHA Annual Meeting attendees volunteer for this year’s Help Us Help Them event at the San Diego Convention Center. Photo by Michele Late, courtesy The Nation’s Health