Regular doctor visits, self exams urged
By KAREN HAMMERDORFER
DELANCEY
Published in the Asbury Park Press 5/15/01
POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ -- An annual checkup can prevent you from checking
out.
That was the message behind the "Healing Hands Across the Sands"
program at Jenkinson's Boardwalk on Saturday.
Sponsored by the borough-based Empathy Foundation and the Southern
Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, the event's goal was to promote health
awareness by encouraging people to visit their doctor regularly. The
program featured information booths manned by health care professionals
and games and contests for children.
"What do you have if you don't have your health?" said Kathy Trainor,
manager of community and senior services at Brick Hospital.
With regards to skin cancer, Trainor warned that everyone, from walkers
to landscapers, should use sunscreen.
"You can enjoy life in the sun, but you need to take precautions so you
don't regret it later," she said.
"We want to urge people to get physical exams at least once a year.
Early detection is the best protection against disease," said Tom Riles,
Point Pleasant Beach, founder of the Empathy Foundation, a nonprofit group
which provides services to hospitalized children and offers
inter-generational programs in Ocean and Monmouth counties.
April Hazelet, 17, Point Pleasant, and other members of the Jersey
Shore All-Star Cheerleading team, helped run the coloring contest.
"This is a great idea. It helps the community and brings people closer
together," she said.
Later in the day, Hazelet was one of approximately 80 people who
participated in a human chain along the ocean's edge to honor those who
died from illness. Hazelet paid tribute to her grandmother, Sarah, who
died of cancer 10 years ago.
Several local officials took part in the chain, including Brick Mayor
Joseph C. Scarpelli, a prostate cancer survivor, and Point Pleasant Beach
Mayor John Pasola.
Russell Martone, a Brick municipal employee, handed out information on
breast and prostate cancer.
"If both cancers are caught early, there's a good survival rate," he
said.
Jill McDonough, co-founder and director of the Cancer Concern Center,
Point Pleasant Beach, a nonprofit support system for cancer patients,
agreed.
"If you discover a lump in your breast -- don't wait to see a
physician. Early detection is the key to surviving," she said.
The event also featured an essay contest in which children urged
parents to get checkups. First-place winner Danny Marshall, a
fourth-grader at Ocean Road School, Point Pleasant, wrote: "Mom, Dad,
don't die, because if you die I will die in my heart." He received a
family fun day for five at Jenkinson's.
Fifth-grader Kellie Cade and fourth-grader Tiffany Fattizzi, also
students at Ocean Road, placed second and third place respectively.
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