Whatever the weather, disc golf is in season; and donating to the Kentwood food bank is also always in season. (Wikimedia Commons)
By City of Kentwood
The City of Kentwood and Great Lakes Disc Golf have partnered to offer the third Fall Fling event, a doubles disc golf tournament and food drive, on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Community disc golfers of all levels are invited to participate in the event at Old Farm Park, which is located at 2350 Embro Dr. SE. On-site registration begins at 9 a.m. Players will meet at 9:45 a.m. to begin the first round of the “best shot” doubles tournament.
The cost to register is $40, along with one canned food donation per team. Proceeds raised will go towards maintaining the course and food donations will go to Kentwood’s Little Free Pantry, where area residents are encouraged to take or donate food and household supplies for community members in need.
“Not only is the Fall Fling a fun event for our area disc golfers to come together to soak up the mild fall weather before winter comes, it is also for a good cause,” said Val Romeo, Kentwood Parks and Recreation director. “Each fall disc golf tournament we’ve held has been successful in bringing a great turnout and, ultimately, restocking the pantry for our community with dozens of canned goods.”
The Kentwood Little Free Pantry initiative began as a community service project in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. in 2017. The small food pantry is open year-round and designed to fill an immediate and local need. The premise is similar to that of the Little Free Library movement: Take an item (or items) when needed and leave an item when you can. No applications necessary. No questions are asked.
David Willer — who prefers to be called “Whitey” when he is behind the camera — is one of the newest WKTV sports coverage volunteers. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
By WKTV Staff
David Willer — who prefers to be called “Whitey” when he is behind the camera — is one of the newest WKTV sports coverage volunteers, occasionally working as part of the video crew for high school football games.
After his first night working with “the truck”, as WKTV’s mobile video unit is nicknamed, the Northeast Grand Rapids resident says his night as quite an adventure.
“I did not expect to do as much as I did (that first night), but it was a blast,” Willer said. “It was a great experience.”
Willer said he found out about sports volunteer opportunities on FaceBook. “I saw the station and responded and decided to do it. It is something I was always interested in, but never really pursued. But I thought ‘Why not now?’”
Part of the reason for Willer, an admitted sports fan, to become involved was his desire to get back into youth sports as well as to learn how to work cameras.
“I used to coach youth sports, back in Minnesota, where I grew up,” he said. “Came here and never had the chance. Fell into cooking, as a chef, and that is what I have been doing for the last 30 years. This (working with WKTV sports coverage) gets me back into sports. It has been a great experience.”
Persons interested in joining Willer and other community volunteers do not need any prior video camera or video production training. (But it helps!) For more information about volunteering at WKTV and becoming part of the stations sports coverage team, email Davin at davin@wktv.org or Bill at bill@wktv.org.
Join Hearts of Hope Dog Rescue as they celebrate five years and 1,000 adoptions! The event will feature a cash bar, complimentary hors d’oeuvres, live music by local band Decoy, a photo booth and an opportunity for attendees to meet some of the dogs the organization is working to save.
It all happens Friday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 pm at The Intersection, 133 Grandville Ave. SW in Grand Rapids. Tickets are $10 prior to the event and $15 at the door. Get ticketshere.
Hearts of Hope Dog Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization driven by a network of volunteer foster families in the Grand Rapids area. Because they are committed to saving the lives of unwanted dogs of all backgrounds, they are considered by many in the local dog community as the last line of support for dogs in need.
Why Adopt?
Thinking of adding a pet to your family? Here are five reasons to adopt your new best friend.
You’ll save a life.
You’ll get a healthy pet.
You’ll save money.
You’ll feel better.
You won’t be supporting puppy mills or pet stores.
Beautiful Bella is waiting for a home
Courtesy of Lynae Marie PhotographyBella’s Info…
She is already spayed, house-trained, up to date with shots, good with kids, good with dogs and good with cats.
Bella’s Story…
Beautiful Bella is a perfect girl! She is sweet, happy, playful and affectionate as well as being house-trained and crate-trained. She loves to play with her toys and go for long walks. Bella gets along great with her foster brother and the silly kitten too. Any dog siblings must be sure to like a playful jumpy pup, as she sometimes acts like the annoying little sister. With people Bella can start out shy, and loud noises and movements can make her a bit timid at times, but with reassurance, she knows it will all be OK. She is a total love and such a well-behaved girl. She is up to date on vaccines, microchipped and spayed. Her adoption fee is $200. Apply to adopt her here.
“When I first heard there was lead in the water, it was a call to action,” said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of Hurley Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Residency Program.
The 39-year-old mother of two daughters shared her perspective on the Flint water crisis with a crowd of 400 at the ACLU’s third annual luncheon, ‘Standing Together For Justice’ on Wednesday, May 18, at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.
“Pediatricians–we know about lead, it’s a no-brainer,” said Dr. Mona. “We know what lead can do to our children, especially our most vulnerable children. It impacts cognition, it impacts behavior, it impacts the entire life-course trajectory.”
The Flint-based pediatrician sees many of the city’s poorest families, and it was Dr. Mona who raised the alarm about the harmful lead levels seen in Flint-area children after the emergency manager ordered a switch from treated Lake Huron water to untreated Flint River water in April 2014. The idea was to save $5 million in less than two years.
The extent of the problem came to light after a Virginia Tech researcher had discovered Flint River water to be 19 times more corrosive than water from Lake Huron. Dr. Mona compared Flint children’s blood tests with results from kids in adjacent Genesee County. What she found disturbed her: A shocking rise in lead levels between January and September 2015. She saw lead levels that were twice what they were a year before, and sometimes even three times higher, depending on the child’s location within Flint.
“We can’t take this away,” said Dr. Mona. “There’s no antidote, there’s no pill.”
When state officials refused to acknowledge the problem, Dr. Mona felt the urgency to share these findings with the public.
“We normally don’t release medical findings at a press conference,” said Dr. Mona. “But we had this ethical, moral and professional obligation to share this information with the public as quickly as possible, because it was so dangerous.”
The state still refused to acknowledge the issue.
Curt Guyette on the ‘Rachel Maddow Show’
ACLU investigative reporter Curt Guyette was one of the first reporters to uncover the story and try to get the state government to pay attention to the issue.
“I was hired to investigate and write about issues involving emergency management in Michigan, and I started going up to Flint because they were under the control of an emergency manager,” Guyette said. “It was the emergency manager who unilaterally made the decision to begin using the Flint River as the city’s water source.
“People were complaining about the qualify of the water, the way it looked, the way it tasted, the way it smelled. And so we did a short documentary about the problems people were experiencing.”
Said ACLU attorney, Jay Kaplan, “Nothing like this should ever happen in any civilized place, especially where the government is not being responsive. We’re concerned about communities and we’re concerned about people. We work to ensure that everyone is afforded their rights and their civil liberties, regardless of one’s economic status or where they live or what their race might be.
“Everyone is afforded those protections, and I think sometimes it can be selective in terms of the way the government will work.”
The irony of this tragedy occurring in a state that is surrounded by the largest source of fresh water in the world is not lost on Dr. Mona. Two years on, the water is still not safe to drink. But she wants people to know that something positive has come out of this tragedy.
“There are Flints everywhere,” she said. “There are injustices everywhere and there have been so many bright stories that have happened because of Flint. People across the nation are talking about lead, they’re talking about infrastructure, about democracy, about environmental injustice, about poverty, about forgotten people in forgotten places.”
Dr. Mona is working to actively flip the story. She directs the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Public Health Initiative, an innovative and model public health program to research, monitor and mitigate the impact of lead in Flint’s drinking water.
“We want the word ‘Flint’ to not mean disaster,” she said. “We want it to mean hope. So, we are working everyday to wrap these children around with interventions to promote their development.
“Flint kids are smart and they’re strong and they’re beautiful. We’re going to make sure they don’t slip through the cracks and that they get everything that they deserve.”
