Next Week's Calendar
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Welcome

Coming up in this week's issue of The Focus you'll find:

Food Fight Against Cancer

Join friends of The Leonard C. Ferguson Cancer Center at FHN Memorial Hospital as we dish out some fun with taste-tempting treats, karaoke, and great company!<br>

Families, Students, Athletes Invited to Join FHN Miles and Minutes Program

FHN’s popular summer exercise program, Miles and Minutes, is back for 2023!

One of the best ways to stay healthy is to keep moving, so FHN is inviting families across northwest Illinois to turn their warm-weather chores and fun into cash for their schools. Three prizes ($2,000, $1,000, and $500) will be awarded in two categories.

Summer exercise like golf, 5K runs, hikes and walks, and even everyday physical activity like mowing the lawn and gardening can count as exercise – as well as summer workouts for student-athletes age 12 and over.

The program began May 29 and runs through Sunday, August 27. Exercisers can join at any time during the summer. The competition is online-only and there is no charge to participate. Anyone 12 years and older can participate, including student athletes.

Registration and the competition rules, as well as information about how miles will be calculated to determine the winning school systems, is available online.

A calculator on the website will automatically convert minutes of almost any type of physical activity into miles. This will make it easy to follow the competition. Prize categories are:
• School system with the most average “miles” logged per participant
• School system with the most “miles” total
• Schools not eligible for above prizes will be entered into a “sweepstakes” drawing to win one of three cash prizes.

The program normalizes miles based on the number of students in each school system to help ensure that all schools have an equal chance to win, no matter their size or how many participants they enlist. Prize money will be awarded in the fall.

Participants from any zip code can support any school system, so family members in Lena, for example, can designate their miles to the River Ridge school system if they wish. Running totals will be displayed on the website and reported throughout the summer, and you can keep up with what’s happening on Miles and Minutes Facebook page.

Winners (to be drawn at random) in the Sweepstakes category will receive a prize of $500, $400, or $300. Read more about the Sweepstakes category at the Miles and Minutes site.

For more information about Miles and Minutes, visit fhn.org/milesandminutes or call FHN Marketing toll-free at 1-877-6000346, ext. 901.

Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion and Worldwide Health

June is …
Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Men’s Health Month
Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month
National Aphasia Awareness Month
National Congenital Cytomegalovirus Awareness Month
National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month
National Scleroderma Awareness Month
PTSD Awareness Month
Scoliosis Awareness Month

Weeks to Note:
Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week June 25-July 1

Days to Note:
World Vitiligo Day June 25
National HIV Testing Day June 27

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month across the United States, Canada, and Australia. LGBT Pride events are celebrated by communities across Canada and the United States on different dates from June through early August. There is a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia each February/March. During this time, people find they are not alone and can take pride in their community’s history. The most significant date in LGBT history occurring in June is the three-day protest in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, an event that marked the first time the gay community joined together to fight for its rights, thereby gaining national attention. The anniversary of this event was one of the reasons June was chosen as the nationally proclaimed month to celebrate LGBT Pride.

Canada celebrates National Indigenous History Month in June, as declared by the Canadian Parliament in 2009. It is a tribute to the heritage and diversity of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities across Canada. It is an opportunity not only to recognize the historic contributions of Indigenous peoples to the development of Canada, but also the strength of present-day Indigenous communities and their promise for the future.

In the United States, June is National Caribbean American Heritage Month. Proclaimed in May 2011 by the U.S. President, it commemorates a time to celebrate the history and culture of Caribbean Americans.

The people of China and Hong Kong celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival on June 22. The day honors the patriot poet Chu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Milo River south of China in protest of the political injustice in 277 BC. The villagers raced to the river and jumped into dragon boats but never found him. As they searched, they beat drums to scare off fish and dragons that might attack his mortal remains. It is a holiday celebrated by boat races in the shape of dragons.

June 24 is St. Jean Baptiste Day for the people of Canada. He is the patron saint of French-Canadians in Quebec. It is a national holiday with parades, bonfires, and fireworks to celebrate his birthday.

The Aboriginal and Maori populations of New Zealand celebrate Matariki on June 24. When the star cluster Matariki (Pleiades) appears in the dawn sky, Maori New Year starts. Festivities begin with the new moon after the first appearance of Matariki and last for a month. It is a time for connecting with, and giving thanks to, the land, sea, and sky, for the community to come together to wish farewell to the dead and to begin planning ahead for the coming year.

In Puerto Rico, June 24 is Dia de San Juan, a day commemorating the island’s patron saint, St. John the Baptist. People gather at the beaches in the afternoon and at midnight, the jump into the ocean backwards three times to symbolize baptism, immersion, and new life. The celebration continues with families gathering to enjoy music, food, and dancing.

June 27 is Multiculturalism Day in Canada. The government officially recognized the day on November 13, 2002. The day acknowledges the contributions that various communities make to Canadian society and to celebrate the country’s richness and diversity.

People of the Islamic faith celebrate Eid-ul-Adha on June 28. It concludes the Hajj and is a three-day festival celebrating Abraham’s test of obedience to Allah when he was asked to sacrifice his son Ismael. At the last moment, Allah replaced Ismael with a lamb.

The LGBT community in the United States observes the Stonewall Rebellion Day on June 28. The day commemorates the U.S. anniversary of the protest against police harassment in New York City’s Greenwich Village in 1969. The event is remembered by a Pride Parade each year in New York City on the last Sunday in June. Events and Pride Parades are held in many metropolitan cities throughout the United States and Canada.

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