YONKERS, NY — December 15, 2014 — Leake & Watts’ services help turn around the lives of at-risk children, adults, and families. But five years ago, the nonprofit organization needed help itself. With a large deficit and 80% of its programs in Corrective Action from regulators, the agency’s programs and budget were shrinking. Then a new management team came aboard and conducted a systematic review and overhaul of operations. Today, Leake & Watts is a fast-growing, focused, and efficient organization. Its remarkable administrative achievements were recognized last month when it received the New York Community Trust 2014 Gold Nonprofit Excellence Award for Overall Management Excellence.

“The hard work in turning this organization around was inspired by the great need for our services throughout the community, where poverty, disabilities, and the lack of education and basic services undermine the stability of children and families,” says Alan Mucatel, Leake & Watts Executive Director, who joined the agency in 2009 to led the turnaround team. “We are deeply honored to be recognized for our management practices. By reshaping our agency and introducing best-practices throughout the organization, Leake & Watts has become extremely effective in creating brighter futures for the people we serve.”

Now solidly in the black, Leake & Watts is expanding rapidly. Its annual budget has jumped from $56 million in 2009 to more than $90 million currently; the budget for fiscal year 2016 is expected to top $100 million. The agency will be opening three juvenile justice programs in 2015, and is actively seeking new program opportunities, such as providing care management services to children who are eligible for coordinated behavioral and medical care through New York State’s Medicaid Health Home initiative.

“We want to ensure that we thrive as human services delivery changes, and we can grow and serve the community through innovation, new funding opportunities, and collaborations,” Mr. Mucatel explains.

Seventy-one nonprofits applied for the 2014 Nonprofit Excellence Awards, and 30 nonprofit management experts evaluated each applicant’s performance in eight key measures: governance, financial management; human resources; diversity and responsiveness; information technology; communications, and fundraising. In its announcement, the awards group pointed to a multitude of Leake & Watts strengths, such as “robust management practices across the board, including financial management that focuses on rate maximization and program utilization”; and “employing performance effectiveness indicators beyond those prescribed by grants, and developing an agency-wide culture focused on results.”

The Nonprofit Excellence Awards was created by the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, and is managed in collaboration with The New York Community Trust and Philanthropy New York. WNYC is the awards sponsor. As winner of the Gold Award, Leake & Watts received a cash prize of $30,000 and two scholarships for Columbia Business School Executive Education Programs in Social Enterprise.

Leake & Watts was founded as a Manhattan orphanage in 1831. It operates nine programs serving more than 8,000 children, adults, and families in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Yonkers, where the organization is based. Programs include early childhood education, foster care, specialized education services, a home for teenage mothers in foster care, behavioral/mental health help, and juvenile justice services. Leake & Watts also operates residences for adults with intellectual disabilities and a Preventive Services program to stabilize at-risk families so children can remain in their parents’ care.

Leake and Watts Services, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Middle States Association, and the Better Business Bureau. For more information, the public is invited to visit www.leakeandwatts.org, find it on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/leakeandwatts, and follow it on Twitter https://twitter.com/leakeandwatts.

The post Remarkable Turnaround at Leake & Watts Leads to Top Prize in the 2014 New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Awards appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

What Your Doctor Won’t (Or Can’t) Tell You – Revised Edition

Evan S. Levine, MD FACC, is the Editor of the Journal of Medicine, Director of the Cardiovascular Center at Saint Joseph’s Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is also the author of the book “What Your Doctor Won’t (or Can’t) Tell You – Revised Edition”.

The FDA finally approved a drug without estrogen for the treatment of menopausal symptoms back in 2013. When compared to placebo, a study shows that Brisdelle significantly diminished the number of hot flashes in women who took the drug for at least four weeks and for as long as three months. To many it appears to be an amazing new treatment — something hitherto unavailable that may indeed improve the lives of menopausal women.

For me, it’s yet another example of Big Pharma exploiting an unwary public with the phrase “Approved by the Food and Drug Administration.” Brisdelle is the trade name of a drug that has been available for years as a cheap generic, paroxetine, also known as Paxil, now rebranded and sold in a dose that is both convenient for the manufacturer and equally inconvenient for the consumer.

In a brilliant stroke of duplicity, Noven Therapeutics conducted their trial using a 7.5 mg dose of the drug – knowing full well that the comparable generics are only approved in a 10 mg and 20 mg pill. Had they performed their studies using a 10 mg dose, or even a 5 mg dose, consumers could have just sidestepped the Brisdelle formulation and asked for a prescription of generic 10 mg tables – cut in half for the smaller dose. But now, if they wish to take the study dose, they’ll either have to buy the Noven product or estimate what ¾ of a 10 mg pill is.

The real miracle here is that Noven has made more out of less. With the retail price of Brisdelle at nearly 6 dollars for each pill, compared to a 12 cent price for each 10 mg pill of paroxetine (when purchased at a three months’ supply), the profits for Noven must make companies like Halliburton quite jealous. If you do the math you can purchase about a year’s supply of generic paroxetine for about the cost of a week’s supply of Noven’s branded paroxetine.

Noven likely needed to separate their six-dollar paroxetine further from the generic twelve-cent paroxetine, so… clever devils that they are, they used a well known, but very legal maneuver to do so and created a drug that the FDA would consider an alternative rather than an equivalent drug to generic paroxetine.

Drugs that are equivalent, according to our FDA, can be substituted for each other, as a generic is for a brand name, since they are essentially identical. But Noven and their artful team decided to change the salt paroxetine is bound to. Instead of paroxetine–HCL (paroxetine-hydrochloride), the original formulation of the available cheap generic, they combined it with a different compound, mesylate, producing paroxetine-mesylate. And to confuse matters more, and distance their drug even further from being considered an equivalent drug, they manufacture Brisdelle as a capsule instead of a pill; another reason for the FDA to consider Noven’s paroxetine just enough different for it not to be considered equivalent to the generic.

While physicians, the Food and Drug Administration, and even Noven Therapeutics, clearly recognize that these “drug products” contain the identical therapeutic moiety (the actual drug molecule — since the compound it’s bound to, either HCL or mesylate, is inert), the FDA does not consider the drugs to be equivalent and thus will not allow a physician or pharmacist to substitute generic paroxetine for Noven’s paroxetine. If someone would ask Noven to honestly explain why they made this alternative drug in capsule form instead of a pill, attached to a different compound, and in a slightly altered dose, they might answer: “because that’s where the money is!”

To be fair to Noven Therapeutics, they did perform a standard double-blind randomized trial matching their drug, Brisdelle, to placebo and they did find that when compared to a placebo effect, their pill, as their statement says, “Is proven to reduce moderate to severe hot flashes during menopause.” But I want you to focus on the word reduce as I continue to deconstruct Noven’s devious stratagem.

In this trial, funded by Noven Therapeutics, at four weeks patients who received Brisdelle had an average of 4.3 fewer hot flashes in a day. Those who received the placebo had 3.1 fewer hot flashes a day . A statistically significant number, but in the end just one fewer hot flash, when you take a medication better known to treat depression, one that, according to the FDA “may increase suicidal thoughts or actions within the first few months of treatment.”

At 12 weeks into treatment, those patients who took this antidepressant had, on average, 5.9 fewer hot flashes and those patients who took the placebo had 5.0 fewer hot flashes; again statistically fewer hot flashes for those who took the Brisdelle, but not even less than one fewer hot flashes a day when compared to the nothing-pill. A quick review of the data and you’ll notice that the subjects taking the placebo for three months actually had fewer hot flashes than the patients who took it for a month!

And now the most disturbing part. The FDA’s independent advisory committee voted 10-4 not to approve Brisdelle, in March of 2013, on the grounds that it did not provide sufficient benefits. Yet the FDA went ahead and approved it anyway! The FDA rarely approves a drug that has more negative than affirmative votes.

So what is Brisdelle? Another example of Big Pharma gaming the system — taking a very cheap generic and transforming it into an expensive, high profit drug that has a marginal effect on quality of life compared to placebo and could easily be replaced by a cheap generic. And thanks to direct-to-consumer advertising in the United States (only two countries in the world allow it), they can advertise their product to millions of women via radio, TV and magazine ads, who will subsequently ask their doctors for a prescription, unaware that they are being exploited yet again by Big Pharma.

In an upcoming article I will address how I have treated and helped women with perimenopause reduce or completely eradicate their symptoms, and for only a few pennies a day.

Evan S. Levine, MD FACC, is Director of the Cardiovascular Center at Saint Joseph’s Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is also the author of the book “What Your Doctor Won’t (or can’t) Tell You – Revised Edition” and editor of the Journal of Medicine. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and children.

The post WHAT YOUR DOCTOR WON’T (OR CAN’T) TELL YOU: Brisdelle – A New Drug to Treat Menopause or Pharma’s Attempt at Alchemy? By EVAN S. LEVINE, MD appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

The following product is included in this recall:

* Ian’s All Natural Italian Style Panko Bread Crumbs, 9 oz., UPC 74951277220 with an expiration date of 31MAY15, 11OCT15 & 17OCT15

Stop & Shop has received no reports of illnesses to date. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat may run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product. Symptoms of food allergies typically appear from within a few minutes to two hours after a person has eaten the food to which he or she is allergic. Allergic reactions can include: hives; flushed skin or rash; tingling or itchy sensation in the mouth; face, tongue, or lip swelling; vomiting and/or diarrhea; abdominal cramps; coughing or wheezing; dizziness and/or lightheadedness; swelling of the throat and vocal cords; difficulty breathing; loss of consciousness.

Customers who have purchased the product should discard any unused portions and bring their purchase receipt to Stop & Shop for a full refund.

Consumers looking for additional information on the recall may call Elevation Foods at 800-543-6637, option. In addition customers may call Stop & Shop Customer Service at 1-800-767-7772 for more information. Customers can also visit the Stop & Shop website at http://www.stopandshop.com.

About Stop & Shop

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC employs approximately 59,000 associates and operates 395 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Stop & Shop is an Ahold company. To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit www.stopandshop.com or www.facebook.com/stopandshop.

The post Stop & Shop Alerts Customers to Voluntary Recall of Ian’s All Natural Italian Style Panko Breadcrumbs appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

YONKERS, NY

Participating in the program assists people who suffer from various blood disorders, such as people diagnosed with Leukemia and Sickle Cell Anemia.

Yonkers Firefighter Chris Leal, (732) 245-3790, has been involved in this program for many years and will be the point of contact.

The post Yonkers Fire Department Probies to Enroll with National Bone Marrow Registry – Tuesday, December 9th , 8:30 – 10 a.m appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

What Your Doctor…Revised Edition

Evan S. Levine, MD FACC, is Director of the Cardiovascular Center at Saint Joseph’s Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

You might imagine there are many duplicitous physicians out there abusing and cheating the system at every turn. Sadly, there are. But now, more than ever, even the best of hospitals, the so-called Top Rated Hospitals in the country, who do business, and it is quite a business, under the guise of Non-Profit institutions, are equally as guilty in pillaging the healthcare system and contributing to our ultimate bankruptcy as a nation and as individuals.  Some of these Top Rated hospitals who , in the past, vetted physicians before allowing them the privilege of becoming a member of their staff are seeking out, and giving, hospital privileges to the lowest scum, the cheaters, and the unqualified, because some of these doctors can bring hospitals a fortune ; a real suitcase full of money!

Since the publication of my book I have been labeled by one of the most senior administrators of a university hospital as someone who cannot be trusted. I hope that after you read my new book you will agree with him — though with an appropriate touch of irony. For I cannot be trusted to withhold the truth from the public, to hide the horrors I see every single day, to turn a blind eye to schemes that doctors, large pharmaceutical corporations, medical societies, and hospital administrators concoct to make themselves richer and more powerful while the rest of us get poorer and sicker.

Some folks with a cynical turn of mind suggested, when my book was published, that all I sought was fame or riches, but for me it was all about telling a story that needed to be told.  And for those who suggest I made no sacrifice in writing my book, you will learn how much of a sacrifice I did make professionally and how my income has been diminished by far more than any advance money I received from my publisher. (I remain indebted to Putnam/Penguin for taking such a big risk on an unknown physician who thought he should try to do something more important, and far more risky, than treating patients.)

I want everyone to know that there is a covert and very dangerous black line that professionals in the healthcare world will step over only at their peril, and at great risk to their reputations and livelihoods.  I liken this line to the infamous blue line within the New York Police Department during the 1980s, where murder, theft of property, and rampant intimidation by bad cops was allowed to go unchecked because of the dire consequences to any honest cop who came forth and told the truth.  I’m no Serpico here, I don’t run with the gun toting criminals, but I have been shunned and condemned in like fashion for not keeping my mouth shut.

And so this is why I wrote my book eight years ago. I hoped to alert as many folks as possible, and give an impetus to others who might consider coming out, about the horrors going on in medicine — not just those perpetrated by the crooked physicians working in dingy offices but by the very doctors who make the rules and head the largest institutions.

Our media concentrates on the most obvious and sensational bad actors: the mafia dons, the serial killers, the drunk drivers and abusive parents, yet they ignore institutions that murder thousands of people a year.  Did you ever stop to wonder if a chief hospital administrator who pushes seriously ill patients, not to mention their doctors, to “select” their handpicked surgeon, even while that doctor’s surgical mortality rate is five-times the rate of others, is any less culpable of killing a person, and an innocent one at that, than a mob boss who puts out a hit on another killer?  The irony is, of course, that the mob killer ends up on the front page of the tabloids and in jail till he dies and the hospital boss ends up with a building named after him and millions in the bank.

So why should I risk my livelihood again, create more powerful enemies, instead of doing what most other doctors and health care professionals do, like most good police did, by staying quiet, and obeying the rules, even if innocent people are harmed or killed?  I have a wonderful wife, and two beautiful little girls. What sort of fool am I?  I have lain awake wondering for too many nights.  My reputation.  My livelihood. To put it all at such risk….

For a while there even I shut up, but I am haunted by the fact that there are many men and some women who earn millions a year who the uninformed and unsuspecting unquestioningly admire and listen to, who no better than any other person who puts profit and self-interest ahead of the wellbeing of others.

So, here I go, with my revised attempt to get the story straight.  To help the great doctors out there who are as much a victim of our healthcare system as are the patients who are harmed by it. I hope you will help me start a revolution to replace the leadership of what I like to call our health-don’t-care system.

The post WHAT YOUR DOCTOR WON’T (OR CAN’T) TELL YOU The Revised Edition By EVAN S. LEVINE, MD appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Photo by and courtesy of Carl Lender.

            Photo by and courtesy of Carl Lender

Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, has provided personal financial and tax counseling to a sophisticated client base since 1986. He is President, Palisades Hudson Financial Group LLC, and
President, Palisades Hudson Asset Management, L.P.

Current Commentary By Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®,

I recently had a conversation with a client whose 80-year-old mother is mentally alert but physically infirm.

We were discussing her upcoming move to an assisted living facility. Our discussion was mostly, as you would imagine, about the financial ramifications of this change. But I also wanted to give him a heads-up about something else he might want to consider as his mother moves from her home to the facility.

The general perception is that a resident in an assisted living facility is safer from accidents, especially falls, than is someone living on their own. In my experience, the reality is that such a difference is slight, if not nonexistent.

Assisted living facilities can be very useful in many ways. Staff members make sure that residents take their medication, eat regular meals, are bathed and dressed each day and enjoy some level of companionship. But most residents have their own room or studio apartment, and they sleep alone at night. For those who are ambulatory, falls are always a risk, but especially so in the dark.

For those who fall in an assisted living facility, there is one advantage: Someone will find them promptly and call for help. (Incidentally, this is the same level of benefit conferred by Life Alert and similar medical alert products.) Prompt attention is good, but the damage may already be done. All it takes is one fall to potentially ruin someone’s quality of life, often permanently.

I saw this first-hand when my wife’s aunt was in such a facility. In a recurring cycle, she would fall and end up in the hospital. She would stay there for several days, often on powerful pain medication. While in the hospital, she became deconditioned and weak, which made her even more prone to falling just as she returned to the facility. (A rough rule of thumb is that a geriatric patient loses 1 percent of muscle mass for each day spent in bed.) Every repetition of this cycle noticeably worsened her overall condition.

Falls have always been a threat to older adults, but as our population ages and longevity increases, the issue has come into sharper relief. The New York Times recently ran a pair of articles that describe the profound effect falls can have for people older than 65, and some of the measures nursing homes and assisted living facilities take to try and keep their residents safe. While it is clear that many facilities are willing to put a lot of effort into preventing falls, predicting them can be difficult on a case-by-case basis.

The Times reported that 24,000 people over 65 died after a fall in 2012, the most recent year for which data was available. More than 2.4 million people over 65 received emergency treatment for fall-related injuries that same year. Nonfatal falls can often result in permanently reduced mobility, with the resulting loss of independence and, in many cases, increased anxiety about falling again.

The only reasonably foolproof solution is round-the-clock attention, which is beyond the standard level of assisted living care. This measure was nonetheless common in my wife’s aunt’s facility, where the patients and their families usually had a bit of money to spend on personal aides. Some assisted living facilities sometimes provide such supervision in cases where a resident is deemed to be at high risk; in others, the patient’s loved ones must arrange it themselves. But unless someone is there to make sure the resident never walks anywhere alone, falls can and probably will happen. We hired aides to stay with my wife’s aunt around the clock, and they were with her for the last six years of her life – the last five of which were spent at home, after she decided to leave assisted living.

As my wife’s aunt discovered, if we employ personal to aides to prevent falls, some of the rationales for institutional assisted living effectively vanish. Good aides make sure their charges take their medication, eat regular meals, are bathed and dressed, and have companionship. They do all these things, too, without the facility’s built-in overhead costs. Greater access to home health aides would mean fewer people would need the care assisted living facilities provide, especially those who do not suffer from dementia.

But there is a labor shortage in this area. Few Americans willingly take on this difficult but necessary work. One aspect of the immigration debate that is seldom discussed is that we need foreign labor in order to create an ample supply of young, able and willing people here to care for our growing elderly population.

Immigration reform alone is not a complete answer, of course. The complicated bureaucracy attendant on hiring home health aides also needs to be addressed. We should make it simpler and cheaper for families to hire the help they need.

Home health workers are not a one-size-fits-all solution. There will always be good assisted living facilities, and people who want to live in them. But in an institution or at home, one of the biggest challenges of caring for aging parents is keeping them safe from falls. If immigration reform helps get us there, it is one more point in its favor.

Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, has provided personal financial and tax counseling to a sophisticated client base since 1986. After six years with Arthur Andersen, where he was a senior manager for personal financial planning and family wealth planning, he founded his own firm in Hastings on Hudson, N.Y., in 1992. That firm grew steadily and became the Palisades Hudson organization, which moved to Scarsdale, N.Y., in 2002. The firm expanded to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2005 and to Atlanta in 2008.

The post CURRENT COMMENTARY: The Link Between Immigration And Elder Care By LARRY M. ELKIN appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

PURCHASE, NY and QUINCY, MA — November 21, 2014 — In an effort to help Thanksgiving hosts manage the planning and preparation for the holiday feast, The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is launching their Thanksgiving Ambassador program starting Saturday, November 22^nd through Wednesday, November 26^th.   An ambassador in each Stop & Shop store will help shoppers with their selection of fresh, frozen, natural and organic and kosher turkeys at great values, easily locate holiday items, provide cooking tips and even offer recipe inspiration.

“With the busy schedules that we are all faced with many of our customers may not have time to find innovative, fresh and impressive recipes,” said Arlene Putterman, Manager, Public & Community Relations at Stop & Shop New York Metro Division.  “Stop & Shop’s Thanksgiving Ambassadors will be on call during designated hours to provide tried and true recipes and also offer some new suggestions that will be welcome additions to the Thanksgiving menu. The Ambassadors will also be able to provide shoppers with tips on how to properly prepare and cook the Thanksgiving turkey.”

The Ambassadors will be on hand to help shoppers from 1PM until 7PM on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday and from 1PM until 5PM on Sunday on Wednesday and will hand-out catering brochures, complimentary refrigerator magnets with cooking instructions (while supplies last).

In addition to assisting our Thanksgiving shoppers’ needs for the holiday in our stores we invite them to view our Pinterest page (http://www.pinterest.com/stopandshop/thanksgiving-feast-for-all) that provides visuals, ideas and recipes for main courses, side dishes, desserts and appetizers. Stop & Shop’s Own Brand products are also a great way to add flavor as well as provide a cost effective way to add to Thanksgiving entertaining and meal planning. The Simply Enjoy line of gourmet products can enhance recipes as well as provide additional meal planning ideas.  They are a great way to not only add something extra to the holiday preparation but are great for everyday meals as well.

Stop & Shop Ambassadors will offer suggestions on how to prepare the turkey:

• Tuck wing tips under the shoulders of the bird for more even cooking.
• Add 1⁄2 cup of water to the bottom of the pan.
• If your roasting pan does not have a lid, you may place a tent of heavy-duty aluminum foil over the turkey for the first 1 to 1.5 hours. This allows for maximum heat circulation, which keeps the turkey moist, and reduces oven splatter.
• To prevent overbrowning, foil may also be placed over the turkey after it reaches the desired color.
• If using an oven-proof food thermometer, place it in the turkey at the start of the cooking cycle. It will allow you to check the internal temperature of the turkey while it is cooking.
• For turkey breasts, place thermometer in the thickest part. For whole turkeys, place in the thickest part of the inner thigh. Once the thigh has reached 165 °F, check the wing and the thickest part of the breast to ensure the turkey has reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F throughout.

Stop & Shop Ambassadors will offer suggestions on storing leftovers:

• Discard any turkey, stuffing, and gravy left out at room temperature longer than 2 hours.
• Divide leftovers into smaller portions.
• Refrigerate or freeze in covered shallow containers for quicker cooling.
• Use refrigerated turkey and stuffing within 3 to 4 days.
• Use gravy within 1 to 2 days.
• If freezing leftovers, use within 2 to 6 months for best quality.

Below are a few recipes the Stop & Shop Thanksgiving Ambassadors will share with our customers:

TURKEY VEGETABLE BARLEY SOUP

1 turkey carcass

4 qt. water

12 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 lb. pkg frozen vegetable medley (peas, carrots, beans…)

1 lb. pkg frozen corn

1 cup barley

2 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. parsley flakes

pinch thyme

Bring turkey carcass to boil in large pot (4 quart) of water. Add peppercorn and bay leaves. Simmer for 2-1/2 hours skimming the scum that floats to the top. Add lost water. Strain resultant broth. Pick meat off of the bones. Shred and return to broth. Add vegetables, corn, barley, salt, pepper, parsley, and thyme. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 45 minutes. Skim as required.

GIBLET GRAVY

While the turkey is roasting, rinse the giblets and neck and simmer in salted water about 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until tender, adding the liver the last 30 minutes. Save the broth. Remove the meat from the neck and chop fine along with giblets to use in making the gravy.

To make lump free gravy, pour 1 cup of cold milk into a jar that has a tight lid. Add 1/2 cup of flour on top of the milk, cover quickly and shake well to smooth mixture of the milk and flour.

Use the broth from the giblets and enough milk to make 3 cups of liquid. Pour into roasting pan, heat and scrape to the loosened brown bits. Slowly add flour mixture. Add salt and pepper. Stir and cook until thickened. Add chopped giblets and heat to serve.

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC employs over 59,000 associates and operates 395 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. The company helps support local communities fight hunger, combat childhood cancer and promote general health and wellness – with emphasis on children’s educational and support programs. In its commitment to be a sustainable company, Stop & Shop is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and EPA’s Smart Way program and has been recognized by the EPA for the superior energy management of its stores. Stop & Shop is an Ahold company. To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit www.stopandshop.com.

The post Stop & Shop’s Thanksgiving Ambassadors to be on Call to Assist Shoppers with Holiday Shopping and Preparation Tips appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Westchester County Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler, MD

Don’t wing it – follow expert advice from the health department to safely prepare and cook your Thanksgiving feast and avoid food borne illnesses.

“When you’re rushing to get a big holiday meal on the table, it’s easy to make a mistake or take a shortcut that could cause your guests to become ill,” said Sherlita Amler, MD, Commissioner of Health. “Follow our safe food handling and cooking tips and your guests will remember their visit and the meal for all the right reasons.”

Frequent hand washing by the chef is the key to safe food handling.

“Remember to thoroughly wash your hands between the preparation of uncooked poultry and ready to serve foods,” said Peter DeLucia, Assistant Commissioner of Public Health Protection. “Preparing a safe and healthy Thanksgiving meal is not an easy task for even the most seasoned of chefs, so residents should follow these six tips to ensure a safe and happy holiday meal.”

• Thaw – Allow at least two to three days to thaw a frozen turkey in the refrigerator. To eliminate any chance of cross contamination, don’t place thawing turkey or any raw meat, (even if commercially wrapped), in a spot where it could drip on fresh fruit and vegetables that won’t be cooked before serving.  Never defrost a turkey by leaving it out at room temperature.

• Separate and Prepare – Bacteria on raw poultry can contaminate your hands, utensils, and work surfaces as you prepare the turkey.  Use different cutting boards for raw meat, poultry, seafood, and veggies. Keep the raw turkey away from vegetables and side dishes that won’t be cooked. Wash hands, surfaces, and utensils often to avoid spreading bacteria when preparing food.

• Stuff – To avoid undercooked stuffing that can cause a food borne illness, bake stuffing separately in a shallow pan, where it can quickly reach 165°F. Many food borne outbreaks have been caused by stuffed, roasted turkey. That’s because it takes a long time for heat to penetrate deep into the cavity, so bacteria can survive inside the bird.

• Cook -Turkeys should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F. How long it will take to reach this temperature will vary significantly depending on oven temperature, temperature fluctuation and turkey weight.   It’s essential to have a 0 to 220 degree probe thermometer at home to accurately measure food temperature. To be safe, take the turkey’s temperature by inserting the probe thermometer deep into the meat.

• Properly Cool Leftovers - Improper cooling practices are one of the most frequent causes of food borne illness. Leftover turkey, stuffing, etc., needs to be refrigerated within two hours. If you prepare foods in advance such as soups and stocks, make sure to cool them in the refrigerator, uncovered in shallow pans.  They can then be transferred to large covered vessels after reaching refrigerator temperature. Be sure not to pack your refrigerator with leftovers so tightly that the cool air can’t do its job. The rule of thumb is to avoid filling containers with food deeper than four inches and then stacking multiple containers upon each other. Once the food is cooled to under 45°F it‘s safe to stack away!

• Reheat – Leftovers, including turkey meat, stuffing and stock should be reheated to at least 165°F before serving.

The health department can be reached at (914) 813-5000.

SOURCE:  Caren Halbfinger, Director, Public Affairs, Westchester County Health Department.

The post Serve A Great Meal, Not Salmonella This Thanksgiving appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano emblem

YONKERS, NY — November 20, 2014 — Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano today announced the City of Yonkers will provide free flu vaccinations to the City’s underserved communities, starting November 21.

The initiative incorporates the Yonkers Police Medical Evacuation Transportation Unit (METU) bus to travel to designated locations throughout Yonkers between November 21 and December 19 with qualified nursing staff administering flu shots. The METU bus can accommodate up to 20 patients and four nurses at a time, where the resident will sign a consent form, be administered the shot and sit for a short observation period.

“…The City can make a greater impact on our most vulnerable population who are in need of a service that they otherwise would not have access to, such as flu shots” said Mayor Spano. “Statistics show that the flu affects thousands of people each year. A simple flu shot can potentially prevent an individual from contracting the virus and keep them healthy. …We encourage residents to take steps to prevent the spread of flu at home, at work and at school.”

The following locations, subject to change, are presently scheduled for the free vaccinations:

Fri., Nov. 21 Nodine Hill Community Center (140 Fillmore St), from 1-4PM

Mon., Nov. 24 Nepperhan Community Center (342 Warburton Ave), from 9AM-12PM

Mon., Dec. 1 Walsh Houses (55-95 Walsh Road), from 1-4PM

Fri., Dec. 5. Kris Kristensen Senior Housing (45 Seymour St.), from 1-4PM

Mon., Dec. 8 Flynn Manor (334 Riverdale Ave.), from 9AM-12PM

Fri., Dec. 12 Saratoga Ave. & Lawrence St., from 1-4PM

Mon., Dec. 15 Loehr Court (10-80 Western Ave.), from 9AM-12PM

Fri., Dec. 19 St. Joseph’s Church (141 Ashburton Ave.), from 1-4PM

The free flu vaccinations will be available to the public. Those under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.

Flu can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Some people, such as older people, young children, and people with certain health conditions, are at high risk for serious flu complications. On average more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications and more than 23,600 people die from flu each year.

The post Yonkers Police Medical Emergency Bus and Nurses Offer Flu Shots in Local Communities Mondays & Fridays from November 21 – December 19 appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

CDC: Facts about Ebola – October 29, 2014.

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