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to www.pabreastfeeding.org
2009 Business Case for Breastfeeding Grant Awarded to Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition At last year's conference call meeting, the members of the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coaliton (PABC) decided to partner with Philadelphia's Maternity Care Coalition (click here to visit MCC's website) to apply for funding for a statewide project to promote support of breastfeeding in the workplace. Dr. Esther Chung of MCC lead the grant writing effort. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office on Women’s Health granted monies to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania through Maternity Care Coalition and the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition (PABC). The Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Collaborative, a network of local breastfeeding advocates from across the state, used the grant money to recognize local workplaces with awards for being breastfeeding-friendly. News items about the awards presented during 2008 as a result of that grant can be found elsewhere on this home page. For more information about the Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Collaborative click here. In December 2008, Chris Mulford and a group of other volunteers from the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition membership, applied for the Business Case for Breastfeeding Grant offered by The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau, in conjunction with their contractors, HCD International and Every Mother, Inc. Chris' expertise really helped our Coalition's grant application succeed. She is Chairperson of the Workplace Breastfeeding Support Committee of the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee and Co-coordinator of the Women & Work Task Force of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. PABC was one of 10 Coalitions across the United States who received the federal grant money. The award letter follows:
December 18, 2008 Dear Dr. Bartok: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau, in conjunction with our contractors, HCD International and Every Mother, Inc. is very pleased to announce that your coalition has been selected for the 2009 Business Case for Breastfeeding Train-the-Trainer Education Opportunity. Your application, one of 21 received from across the U.S., was selected because you were able to demonstrate a strong infrastructure and commitment to improving workplace support for new families. We look forward to meeting you and learning more about the work of your coalition, and the ways the new worksite lactation resource kit can be implemented in your state. We are especially pleased that you chose to reapply this year and that the changes you incorporated into your 2009 application led to your selection to participate in the second phase of the project. The work you have done over the past year will enable you to undertake important activities in breastfeeding promotion during 2009. Tiffany Pertillar, the Project Manager from our Contractor, HCD International, will be contacting you very soon to provide further details of the project. We anticipate an exciting and productive year working hand in hand with you and your partnering organizations to promote breastfeeding in the United States. A signed hard copy of this letter will be sent out after the new year. Sincerely, Isadora Hare, MSW, LCSW Central Pennsylvania Breastfeeding-Friendly Advocate in the Workplace Awards and Certificates Given in Ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg October 2, 2008.
Following the award presentations, the criteria for awarding Certificates of Recognition and the recipients were introduced by Martha Kautz. A total of six Certificates of Recognition were presented to: Whitaker Center – Dauphin County’s state museum who created a room within the child’s play room Labor and Industry – Large Government building in Dauphin County who after two years of planning, recently opened a dedicated room and are still working on support services Central Dauphin East Middle School – School in Dauphin County that allows teacher to use the Superintendent office to pump, some schedule flexibility and willing to continue to improve support Grace Church of Lititz – Large church with K-12 school, pre-school and daycare facility in Lancaster County with approximately 1300 members with a dedicated furnished room between infant and toddler nurseries for employees Central Pennsylvania Good Samaritan Hospital – Small community hospital in Lebanon County with full lactation support services and dedicated space. Health & Welfare building Wellness Committee – Large Department of Health Government Building with dedicated space, hospital-grade pump, on-site Lactation Consultant, flexible scheduling. Click here to view the full report. Western Pennsylvania's Washington Hospital's Lactation Program receives Breastfeeding-Friendly Advocate in the Workplace Award October 7, 2008 through a grant from the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition The US Department of Health and Human Service’s Office on Women’s Health has granted monies to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania through Maternity Care Coalition and the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition (PABC) to help local breastfeeding advocates award local workplaces with the recognition of being breastfeeding-friendly. Washington Hospital received recognition on Tuesday, October 7, 2008.
Penn State University receives Breastfeeding-Friendly Advocate in the Workplace Award from Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition on October 15, 2008.
Upper Perkiomen School District presented a Breastfeeding Friendly Business Award. On October 9 the Upper Perkiomen School District was presented a Breastfeeding Friendly Business Award for their best practices to support and encourage breastfeeding mothers. The Pennsylvania Resource Organization for Lactation Consultants and the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition recognized the Upper Perkiomen School District for their protocol permitting public breastfeeding on school property and their support of employees who are returning to work after the birth of their children. The school district was commended for setting an example for other businesses. In fact another school in Pennsylvania has adopted the same protocol. The district-wide protocol permits a mother to breastfeed her child on school property whether she is a parent, employee, volunteer, or other member of the public without being asked to leave or move elsewhere and also covers non-discrimination against lactating employees. Contact person: Kay Hoover 610-543-5995 (kay@hoover.net)
The Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition partnered with Philadelphia's Maternity Care Coalition to present Breastfeeding in the Workplace Awards across the state. On September 15 at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia 16 different businesses were recognized. Please click here to go to the Maternity Care Coalition's web site to see which employers in the Philadelphia area were selected, what the criteria for selection was, and what events took place that day. What is PABC? Established in 1992, the mission of the Coalition is to facilitate community and statewide efforts to protect, support and promote breastfeeding as the cultural norm across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition is a non-profit organization of dedicated professionals and non-professionals who donate their time and efforts to activities that promote breastfeeding. There is statewide representation on the coalition from local, state, and national organizations. Coalition Activities Include:
Partnering organizations include
The Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition meets quarterly at various locations throughout the Commonwealth. To learn more about becoming a member of PABC, click here to go to our Membership page. |
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DISCLAIMER: Neither the coalition nor the page author are responsible
for links to other sites outside of our web page. This page is not
maintained for business activity; it is to be used for the sole
purpose as resource for lactation professionals. Should a link meet
your professional needs, please contact that link's resource person
directly for further information.
Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition |
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The first plaque was awarded to the Hershey Company, a very large food manufacturing company in Dauphin County. Their Marketing Manager accepted the award and shared the Company’s perspective of providing support for breastfeeding employees and shared the history of how this support was developed. A “Mother’s Council” was formed and slowly over four years, dedicated space was designated in each of the 8 buildings. Most of the spaces have a refrigerator, couch, electrical outlet and other amenities. Flexible scheduling is available for the employees
The next plaque was then presented by committee member Leslie Cree to Park City Center. Park City Center is a large shopping mall in Lancaster County. They created a room for breastfeeding employees and patrons. The overwhelming positive response led Mall management to create a second room. A sink, rocker, baby changing station are in the private rooms. Mall Public Relations Director accepted the award. She spoke about their successful program.
The final plaque was presented to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, a Federal-interstate compact Agency in Dauphin County. They have a dedicated private space, flexible employee time, and supportive policy for breastfeeding employees. The Director accepted the award and expressed comments of the satisfaction and positive outcomes of providing lactation support at the Commission.
