Radon test kits $25K given to Foodbank

Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County’s Regional Air Pollution Control Agency (RAPCA), in partnership with the Ohio Department of Health and the Union County Health Department, is offering free and reduced-cost radon test kits for Ohio homeowners to check their homes for elevated radon levels.

Radon is a colorless, odorless soil gas that can build up in homes and may increase the risk of lung cancer for occupants. The Ohio Department of Health estimates about half of Ohio families live in homes with elevated radon levels.

Testing is the only way to know if elevated levels exist in a home, so the Ohio Department of Health recommends all homes be tested, regardless of age, location, or construction type. Elevated indoor radon levels can be corrected with the installation of a ventilation system to direct the gas outdoors.

Ohio homeowners may request a free kit by visiting www.ohio. radon.com and completing the required information. If the free kits are sold out, they may be purchased for a reduce price.

More radon information is available by visiting www.rapca.org/ programs/radon.

Health care company Humana donated $25,000 to The Foodbank Inc.

The Foodbank will use the funds to expand their “Food Rx” program. The program offers physicians the opportunity to refer patients who are food insecure – meaning they have inconsistent access to nutritious food – to a resource like The Foodbank.

“We’re very pleased to have received this grant during a time when the need for assistance is so great here in the Miami Valley,” said Lee Lauren Truesdale, chief development officer at The Foodbank.

Truesdale said the reason for this kind of referral program is that organizations like Humana and The Foodbank recognize food insecurity as a social determinant of health, or the nonmedical risk factors that affect a person’s overall well-being.

“Through this collaboration, we want to improve health through a more holistic approach that takes into account the comprehensive needs of people here in the Miami Valley,” Truesdale said.

In Ohio, more than 1.6 million people are struggling with hunger, including nearly 500,000 children, according to Feeding America. Here in the Miami Valley specifically over 106,000 local residents won’t have dinner on the table tonight, Truesdale said. Humana has made an initial investment to support three major local food banks: The Foodbank, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and the Mid-Ohio Food Collective in Columbus.

As part of this initiative, Humana is also giving funding, and health care and research expertise, to Columbus-based Move to PROSPER and supporting Harper’s Pointe in Cuyahoga County.