Category Archives: Society

The Latest news about what is effecting Society in North America, These PR articles, bring the newest technologies, initiatives and helpful tools to those who need them.

Society: Disabled Issues / Disabilities

Lightbridge Academy Announces Greg & Dina Hamwi as 2023 Franchisee of the Year for Exemplifying Circle of Care Philosophy

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Lightbridge Academy has named Greg & Dina Hamwi as the 2023 Franchisee of the Year for their outstanding commitment to the brand’s philosophy. The franchise also recognized 48 Conference Award winners, including Pinnacle Award recipients, highlighting their dedication to high-quality early childhood education.

ISELIN, N.J., Oct. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Lightbridge Academy®, Innovators in Educational Child Care® and one of the fastest-growing early childhood education franchises with over 150 centers either open or in development, announces Greg & Dina Hamwi as the 2023 Franchisee of the Year award recipients at the annual Lightbridge Academy Franchise Conference. The franchisees, who operate the Shrewsbury, New Jersey Lightbridge Academy location, were chosen for this prestigious award because they embody the brand’s Core Values and Circle of Care philosophy to the children in their care, the families who love them, and the staff. The distinguished franchisees recognize the importance of providing an essential and rewarding service to their local community through Lightbridge Academy’s proven franchise business model.

“We are thrilled to announce Greg and Dina Hamwi as our Franchisee of the Year,” said Chief Executive Officer, Gigi Schweikert. “Their dedication, passion, and unwavering commitment to our Circle of Care philosophy have made them shining examples of excellence within our franchise. They have demonstrated exceptional leadership in providing a nurturing and safe environment for the children in their care at the Shrewsbury center. Their tireless efforts have truly exemplified our values and mission, and we are honored to have them as part of our Lightbridge Academy community.”

In addition to the Franchisee of the Year Award, Lightbridge Academy announces all forty-eight 2023 Conference Award winners, including Pinnacle of the Year Award, CEO Award, Customer Loyalty Awards, Lightbridge Foundation Award, Center Launch Champion, Reviewer’s Choice Award, Director of the Year, and Teacher of the Year winners. The first three awards are given to the Franchisee of the Year, Director of the Year, and Teacher of the Year. All honorees went above and beyond in 2023 to accomplish Lightbridge Academy’s promise to be The Solution for Working Parents® in their local communities and throughout the country.

Lightbridge Academy takes pride in its exceptional early childhood education leadership, with the Director of the Year award serving as a tribute to these outstanding individuals. The finalists and winners span across six franchises in centers located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Additionally, Lightbridge Academy proudly unveils its Teacher of the Year recipients. These exceptional educators exemplify the school’s ‘whole child’ approach to child development, caring for their students’ academic, emotional, social, and physical growth daily. The six honorees come from five franchises in New Jersey and North Carolina.

One of Lightbridge Academy’s proudest accomplishments this year is having a record 34 Pinnacle Award winners with franchises across five states including New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Pinnacle Award is presented each year to honorees who serve an impressive number of families at their centers and provide The Solution for Working Parents® to a high volume of families in their communities.

This year, the CEO Award is presented to three honorees located in New Jersey and North Carolina. These winners are awarded in recognition of achieving the highest average yearly occupancy in the franchise system and providing high-quality, trusted child care in their respective communities.

Lightbridge Academy prioritizes the creation of an exceptional customer experience and honors franchisees who have cultivated remarkable customer loyalty through its Customer Loyalty Awards. Customer Loyalty Awards are awarded for creating a world-class customer experience and attaining the highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) among families. The Customer Loyalty Award recipients expand across nine franchises in four states including New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Highlighting incredible philanthropic efforts throughout the year, the Lightbridge Foundation Award is presented to franchisees who are recognized for achieving the highest level of fundraising contributions to the Lightbridge Academy Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to supporting and adding value to the communities our child care centers serve throughout the country. The Lightbridge Foundation Award is presented to three honorees located in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The Center Launch Champion is awarded to franchisees for their remarkable opening enrollment achievement at the center’s opening. The Center Launch Champions include franchises in New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Lastly, Franchisees were honored with the prestigious Reviewers Choice Award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the brand’s image and standing within the community. This award is presented for exceeding Lightbridge Academy reputation standards. Reviewer’s Choice Award winners include centers in Edison, New Jersey, Hoboken – Willow, New Jersey, and Renaissance, New Jersey.

“I’m truly proud of all of our 2023 award winners and franchisees,” said Schweikert. “As we celebrate their remarkable achievements in delivering high-quality early childhood education within an essential and high-demand industry nationwide, it’s crucial to acknowledge our devoted franchisees who epitomize commitment, care, and passion in offering The Solution for Working Parents®. They continue to make a profound impact in their communities by providing a trusted solution for families seeking high-quality care.”

Lightbridge Academy’s business model meets the need for trusted educational child care by supporting busy families. With 58% of working parents currently relying on child care centers, according to Zippia, the expanding brand is perfectly positioned to meet the growing demand. Lightbridge Academy stands out for those seeking to open their first child care center and others seeking to diversify their portfolio with its accessible franchise support and renowned leadership team. The company remains economically resilient and organizationally nimble benefitting from flexibility, collaboration, and continued innovation in an ever-evolving market. This commitment to innovation has been recognized with the company being featured on the Inc. 5000 ranking and securing placement in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 list for the 7th year.

To learn more about Lightbridge Academy’s early childhood education programs, visit, LightbridgeAcademy.com.

To learn more about franchising opportunities, visit LightbridgeAcademyFranchise.com.

About Lightbridge Academy:

Established in 1997, the company was founded as a family business based on core values and a Circle of Care philosophy that places equal importance on the needs of children, their families, teachers, center owners and the community. Lightbridge Academy provides quality early education and child care programs to children aged six weeks through kindergarten. The company currently has over 150 child care centers either open or in development throughout Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The Lightbridge Promise also leads the industry as the Gold Standard for health & safety in the child care industry. In 2020, the company was featured on the Inc. 5000 ranking, Franchise Times Top 200+ awards, and on Newsweek’s 2021 list of America’s Best Customer Service. In 2022, Lightbridge Academy was featured for the 7th year on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 and for the 2nd year on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies. In 2023, Lightbridge Academy was featured in the Franchise Times Top 400 rankings. For more information on Lightbridge Academy’s successful franchise business model, visit LightbridgeAcademyFranchise.com.

Media Contact

Konnect Agency, Lightbridge Academy, 1 7133060270, [email protected]

SOURCE Lightbridge Academy

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Society: Disabled Issues / Disabilities

DSS Presenting at The Fall 2023 DoD/VA & Government HIT Summit

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The presentation will also discuss how no matter the outcome of the COTS solution, VistA will remain the vital backbone of VA operations. VistA supports many other functions across the VA beyond the EHR and will continue to be the only system used in VA medical centers across the country waiting for the new COTS EHR.

David Whitmer, FACHE and vice president for product operations (federal) at DSS, will present and lead this discussion on Thursday, October 12 at 9:50AM to 10:20AM.

“I am very honored to present and discuss VistA modernization to HIT industry leaders, especially since it’s a viable solution for ensuring Veteran safety and continuity of care,” said Whitmer. “We also aim to convey how investment in VistA minimizes cost, risk, time, and operational disruption while preserving and extending the VA’s homegrown VistA platform.”

In addition, David recently authored this Federal News Network guest article that provides more insights into his perspective around the VA’s need to continue to invest in, maintain, and upgrade VistA as part of its EHRM efforts. David also shares these insights in this recent FORUM Keeping IT Brief podcast interview.

David Whitmer is a board-certified health care executive with 30 years of public health experience, including 20 years in C-suite positions directing facilities and operations for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), along with 10 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES).

About Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS, Inc.)
Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS) is a catalyst for health care innovation, keeping pace with evolving technologies as a solutions provider, systems integrator, and services contractor to the Department of Veterans Affairs. DSS is committed to assisting VA in its High Reliability Organization journey and delivering care quality for Veterans by meeting top initiatives, changing regulatory requirements, and implementing enhanced business transformation across VA enterprise. For more information, visit https://www.dssinc.com.

Media Contact
Matthew Langan, L&R Communications, 2022623340, [email protected]

SOURCE Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS)

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Society: Social Services

Quench Partners with Student-Led Non-profit to Provide Clean Water to a Bronx High School

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“I’m grateful for the opportunity to partner with Mr. Sanan and Day Zero Water,” said Quench CEO Tony Ibarguen. “Thanks to his efforts and our donation of the Quench Q12 water filtration system, students and faculty at Monsignor Scanlan High School can enjoy clean, great-tasting water at no cost to them or their families.”

In recent years, COVID-19 restrictions forced the school to turn off most water fountains throughout the building. So, students became dependent on bottled water, which they could purchase from vending machines around the building or the cafeteria.

“Students were spending a decent amount of money daily on bottled water and sports drinks,” said Principal of Monsignor Scanlan High School Mr. Eric Mercado.

The donated unit, a Quench Q12, limits the need for students to purchase bottled water while at school. The Q12 can produce up to 100 gallons of filtered water a day and dispenses hot, cold, and ambient water. With a student body of about 500, it features an ideal capacity for Monsignor Scanlan High School.

“We have a Quench Q12 water treatment system at my high school in Scarsdale, which is exceptionally better than the other systems at my school – both the water quality and the water flow seem to be superior,” said Sanan. “Intuitively, I thought that a good reverse osmosis system like the one the Quench Q12 provides could be used to help schools locally to provide high-quality water and improve hydration to students.”

The Quench Q12 can filter out most known bacteria, viruses, and lead that is often found in buildings with old infrastructure, providing students and faculty peace of mind that they are reducing their exposure to these contaminants. After it filters out contaminants, the Q12’s filtration system adds back healthy minerals to help students hydrate faster and stay hydrated longer. The unit also has touchless dispensing to reduce cross-contamination and UV-C sanitization, which effectively inactivates microorganisms and can help lower the risk of illness.

Mr. Mercado shared that his school started in early September, and many in the building have already made good use of the new Quench system.

“As far as using the system, I can tell you right now that our faculty and staff are using it,” said Mercado. “During my morning announcements, I plug the Quench system and let students know they can fill up with their reusable bottles throughout the day.”

Beyond providing free access to fresh, clean water to students, the Q12 system will help reduce the school’s dependency on wasteful single-use plastic bottles, which cause significant greenhouse gas emissions and pollute the environment. One Quench filtration system can save 7,000 single-use plastic bottles from going into landfills. Plus, facilities with ~50 daily users that replace single-use plastic-bottle delivery services with a Quench bottleless water cooler can reduce carbon emissions by 95 percent.

About Day Zero Water

Day Zero Water is a student-led organization that helps raise clean water awareness and implements water filtration projects in schools locally in New York and in high-water stress areas worldwide. The organization raises awareness of clean water and water security, fundraises to implement water filtration projects in schools and high-water stress areas, conducts water quality testing, provides innovative solutions to Water-Energy nexus issues, reduces, reuse, and recycles water, including using smart devices and nature-based solutions, and pushes for sustainable use of natural resources.

About Quench

Quench USA, Inc. offers bottleless filtered drinking water solutions for healthy and environmentally conscious consumers outside the home, through direct sales and independent dealers across North America. Our bottle-free water coolers, ice machines, sparkling water dispensers and coffee brewers purify a user’s existing water supply to provide reliable and convenient filtered water across a broad mix of businesses, such as government, education, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and other industries, including more than half of the Fortune 500. Headquartered in King of Prussia, PA, Quench has sales and service operations across North America to serve our 100,000+ customers, and a network of more than 300 independent dealers selling products under the brand names Pure Water Technology, Wellsys, and Waterlogic. Quench is a Culligan Company. For more information, please visit https://quenchwater.com.

About Culligan

Founded in 1936 by Emmett Culligan, Culligan International is a world leader in delivering water solutions that will improve the lives of its customers. The company offers some of the most technologically advanced, state-of-the-art water filtration and treatment products. Culligan’s products include water softeners, drinking water systems, whole-house systems and solutions. for businesses. Culligan’s network of franchise dealers is the largest in the world, with over 900 dealers in 90 countries. For more information visit: www.culligan.com.

Media Contact

Megan Backus, Quench USA, 1 6109302325, [email protected], Quench USA

Cari Dienstman, Quench USA, 1 2679306857, [email protected], Quench USA

SOURCE Quench USA

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Society: Disabled Issues / Disabilities

40 STORIES OF GRANDMA LOVE”…RELEASED IN TIME FOR GRANDPARENTS APPRECIATION MONTH

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“Opening a window to the world of children moves us closer to the miracle of living,” says Frizlen who encourages readers to reawaken the child inside them and connect with the joy in their lives with a refreshed perspective.

To mark the launch of this extraordinary work, Judith Frizlen invited the public to a special launch party, held on Friday, September 15th, 2023, at the charming Fitz Books and Waffles in Buffalo, NY.

The event was a resounding success, bringing together families, book enthusiasts, and members of the media to celebrate the enduring power of intergenerational love and wisdom. Guests savored delicious waffles with ice cream while basking in the pleasant weather on the venue’s back patio. The highlight of the evening was Judith’s heartfelt readings from her book, “Where Wisdom Meets Wonder,” which resonated deeply with the audience. Attendees had the privilege of meeting the author, Judith Frizlen, in person, and they gained valuable insights into the inspirations and stories that shaped her heartwarming book. Many guests left with cherished memories and autographed copies of “Where Wisdom Meets Wonder,” creating lasting mementos of a truly special evening.

The event underscored the significance of preserving and celebrating the unique bond and honoring the love and wisdom that grandparents generously share with their grandchildren.

ABOUT JUDITH FRIZLEN
Judith Frizlen is a local writer, teacher, mother, grandmother, and founder of the Rose Garden Early Childhood Center in Buffalo, NY. She is an advocate for young children and everyone who cares for them. Judith Frizlen likes to go on adventures with her husband, such as: traveling, kayaking, hiking, bicycling, or strolling through Delaware Park. Her books include Unpacking Guilt, a Mother’s Journey to Freedom; Words for Parents in Small Doses; and Words for Teachers and Caregivers in Small Doses. Her blog can be found at http://www.judithfrizlen.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Malayika Mehra (866-949-6868)
[email protected]

SOURCE Judith Frizlen

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Society: Christianity

Author Shares Faith-Filled Stories of Her Jewish Grandparents

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“I felt compelled to share the story of my grandparent’s life, because I found it extremely inspiring,” said Leigh. “My grandfather passed away when my father was in his 20s and my grandmother passed away when I was a very small child, but I have the stories of them both that were passed down to us over time.”

Leigh begins her story in Seville, Spain, during the late 15th century, when her ancestors left because of persecution during the Spanish Inquisition. She follows them to Constantinople and then, finally, to Seattle. Here, she documents her grandparents’ efforts as they try to make ends meet, while raising their children to be strong and resourceful, and dedicated to their Jewish faith.

“My strongest talent is storytelling, and I love sharing stories from life, involving overcoming great challenges,” said Leigh. “It is my prayer that my writing endeavors will encourage all who read them to trust in a God who is powerful, faithful and good.”

“Jacob and Faye a Grandparents Story: Inspired by True Events”
By Daphne Leigh
ISBN: 9781973635062 (softcover); 9781973635055 (electronic)
Available at WestBow Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the author
Daphne Leigh lives in Lynnwood, Wash., and is active in her community, in her church and with her family. She enjoys spending time with her eight great-nieces and nephews, ages ranging from 8 years to 5 months. To learn more, please visit http://www.westbowpress.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/781064-Jacob-and-Faye-A-Grandparents-Story 

Media Contact

Ziggy Goldfarb, LAVIDGE, 4803067065, [email protected] 

SOURCE Daphne Leigh

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Society: Social Services

42% of Likely Voters Want Cognitive Testing for Presidential Candidates

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Recent instances, like Senator Mitch McConnell and President Joe Biden’s verbal missteps, have been highlighted by some as potential signs of cognitive decline. These moments are sparking concerns regarding the implications of normal aging, as well as other possible medical or psychological factors that could impact a leader’s capacity to serve.

Lars Mapstead, a Libertarian presidential candidate who garnered 4% in the Gravis poll, said, “The American people are tired of Republicans and Democrats choosing the next President on autopilot. It’s time to elect someone who will unrig the system, not focus on staying in office until they reach the nursing home.”

Advocates for cognitive testing emphasize voters’ right to transparency and accountability, ensuring that candidates can handle the job’s intricacies. Many also argue that testing could enhance national security and elevate voter confidence in the electoral system by ensuring that candidates meet a certain cognitive standard.

However, there’s pushback against such an idea. Opponents highlight potential biases in the tests, which might be discriminatory. They also stress the importance of medical privacy, even for presidential candidates, and warn against the potential misuse of cognitive results as political ammunition. They believe that any testing system must be safeguarded against bias and must be run by an independent, non-partisan entity.

Media Contact

Dan Johnson, Lars Mapstead for President, 1 5672015432, [email protected], https://lars24.com

SOURCE Lars Mapstead for President

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Society: Christianity

International Fellowship of Christians and Jews Approves $5M in Emergency Humanitarian Aid for Distribution Throughout Israel Following Devastating Hamas Attacks

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Israel’s largest provider of humanitarian aid prepares for influx of needs as Israel declares war on terrorist group JERUSALEM, Oct. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — In the hours following the massive and vicious attacks by Hamas terrorists on southern Israel in the early hours of Saturday morning…

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Society: Christianity

因发现氯胺酮的抗抑郁功效，耶鲁大学医学院的专家荣膺国际心理医学奖

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康涅狄格州纽黑文, 2023年10月8日 /美通社/ — 耶鲁大学医学院精神病学系主任、医学博士 John H. Krystal 荣膺美国国家医学院（NAM）颁发的 2023 年 Rhoda and Bernard 国际心理医学奖。 这一殊荣由 Krystal 与同事 Dennis Charney（医学博士）和 Husseini Manji（医学博士）共享。能够获得这一殊荣，是因为三人发现了氯胺酮的快速抗抑郁效果，并确认了其对难治性抑郁症的疗效。 正是基于这一发现，艾司氯胺酮成为了 50 多年来美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）批准的首款具有新机制的抗抑郁药物。…

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Society: Christianity

耶魯大學醫學院專家因發現氯胺酮抗抑鬱劑而獲頒國際心理健康獎

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康乃狄格州紐希雲 2023年10月7日 /美通社/ — 耶魯大學醫學院精神科部主席 John H. Krystal 醫學博士，獲美國國家醫學院（National Academy of Medicine，簡稱 NAM）頒發 2023 年 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health （國際心理健康獎）。 Krystal 將與其同事 Dennis Charney 醫學博士及 Husseini Manji…

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