SVHC Newsletter - February 2024

FEBRUARY2024

“The mission of SVHC is to cultivate local solutions and collaborative actions that advance the health and well-being of the Cortland community.”

SVHC Celebrates National Children's Dental Health Month

Our favorite tooth mascot, Mighty Molar, has been busy celebrating Children's Dental Health Month this February. To start, you may have seen him, along with some of the SVHC staff, at the Homer Winterfest a few weeks ago. More recently, he made a visit to preschool story hour at the Cortland Free Library where SVHC AmeriCorps member, Makenna, gave a lesson on good teeth hygiene to some of our youngest community members.

Mighty will remain busy this month as he visits local elementary schools to distribute oral health kits to area 3rd graders. In next month's newsletter, you'll see some of the TikTok videos he created around this year's theme, Healthy Habits for Healthy Smiles. Stay tuned!

Join Us for 2024 Cortland Counts Community Forum!

Please register for this event by clicking the button below.

Program Spotlight: Seven Valleys Food Rescue

Syracuse-Onondaga Food System Alliance & SVFR Partnership

Thanks to the support of Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, SVFR has partnered with Syracuse-Onondaga Food System Alliance (SOFSA) to expand food rescue programs in the Syracuse area and pilot the Onondaga Food Rescue Network program. We even made the news!

Check out our feature on Spectrum 1 News!

Nourish New York & SVFR Partnership

Last fall, SVHC received a large Nourish New York grant from NY State Department of Agriculture and Markets. This grant is meant to not only support NY state producers, but also food insecure community members. Thanks to this grant, SVHC has been able to purchase local ground beef, whole chickens, pork, and apples to be distributed to pantries throughout the county!

Cortland County Local Food Map

Do you want to get connected with local food but don't know where to start? The Cortland County Local Food Map can help! Use the printed or new digital guide to identify and connect with locally grown and produced food in a fun and easy way.

The updated Cortland County Local Food Map was created with Experience Cortland, Cortland Food Project, Cortland artist Jim Coon, and local food growers, producers, and businesses. Listings on the map include farms, farmers' markets, farm stands, U-Pick patches, local food stores, restaurants, bakeries, and more! It also highlights Cortland Harvest, the new brand for Cortland County grown or produced food and agricultural products.
A HUGE thanks to our Cortland County Local Food Map sponsor, Center for the Arts of Homer, for featuring the map in their 2024 program!

View the new digital food map

2024 Winter Challenge: Participate Through March 31st!

How to participate:

Make sure you follow us on Instagram and/or Facebook!
Grab your board at our office, local businesses around town, or download a copy from our website (link below) and complete four boxes “bingo style.”
Post your photo on your social media accounts & tag @sevenvalleyshealthcoalition using #winterchallenge2024 to be entered into weekly prize drawings!
For extra entry – tag two friends on our social media posts.