Compiled by Debra Scherban. Please send items to dscherba@gazettenet.com.
How to identify an opioid overdose, how to respond and how to administer nasal Narcan to save lives will be the focus of a series of free trainings open to the public.
The sessions are being organized by Hampshire HOPE, the county’s opioid abuse prevention coalition operated though the city of Northampton’s Health Department, the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, Tapestry and the Quaboag Hills Community Coalition.
The dates are: Thursday, 5 p.m. South Hadley Town Hall, 116 Main St. Room 109, South Hadley; Feb. 14, 3 p.m., Easthampton School Department, 50 Payson Ave., Easthampton; Feb. 15, 3 p.m. Hilltown Community Health Center, 9 Russell Road, Huntington; Feb. 21, 12 p.m., Granby Public Library, 297 East State St., Granby; March 1, 9 a.m., Unitarian Universalists Church, 121 North Pleasant St., Amherst. Additional sessions will be held in Northampton, Belchertown and Ware. Specifics will be announced on the Hampshire HOPE webpage, www.hampshirehope.org.
Some of the training sessions will offer free Narcan doses to participants, while others will offer vouchers that will waive insurance copayments at certain pharmacies.
RSVP to Cherry Sullivan at 587-1219. However, walk-ins will be welcome.
The Zonta Club of Quaboag Valley is leading the effort to collect items to create menstrual kits for homeless women and to stock supplies at local shelters.
Basic hygiene products are costly, but pads and tampons are considered non-essential by the federal government, so they are not covered by SNAP and WIC programs.
Items needed are sealed boxes of pads or tampons, cleansing wipes, hand sanitizers, soap, liners, new pairs of underwear (any size) or cash to purchase items for the kits distributed.
Checks can be made to Zonta Club of Quaboag Valley, PO Box 1034, Belchertown MA 01007-1034
Collection boxes for The Period Project are located throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties. Find addresses and maps at zontaqv.org/period. For additional information visit the club’s website at zontaqv.org or email: info@zontaqv.org.
The Cooley Dickinson Development Office in Northampton is accepting applications for one laboratory and four nursing scholarships.
Interested students may visit the scholarship webpage at www.cooley-dickinson.org. The deadline is April 7
The awards are:
Donald “Skip” Jandzinski Memorial Scholarship, $500, for an employee in the laboratory department registered to complete college-credit course work.
The Therese Connor Nursing Education Fund, $400, for the nursing professional in oncology.
The Louise Finn Nursing Scholarship, $500, for the child of a Cooley Dickinson Health Care employee..
CDH School of Nursing Alumni Association Scholarship, $600, for a senior attending either Northampton High School or Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School..
Edward Moss Memorial Scholarship, $500, for a Cooley Dickinson employee who is either accepted or enrolled full time in an accredited school of nursing.
For more information call 582-2255 or e-mail development@cooley-dickinson.org.
Area blood donation
opportunities
Following are area donation opportunities.
Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., University of Massachusetts, 1 Campus Way, Amherst
Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., U.S. Veterans Affairs medical center, 421 Main St., Leeds
Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Linda Manor, 349 Haydenville Road, Leeds.
Friday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Cooley Dickinson Hospital, 30 Locust St., Northampton.
Monday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mount. Holyoke College Mary Wooley Hall, 50 College St., South Hadley.