One-stop health and safety shop for kids
State Rep. John Taylor to host Kids Health and Safety Fair this weekend
By Melissa Komar
For more than three decades, senior citizens in the 177th Legislative District have formed lines spanning the entire block of Cedar Street to obtain vital information at state Rep. John Taylor’s Senior Expo at Cohox Recreation Center.
This weekend, the district’s youngest residents will have access to their own one-stop-shop for all things “kid.”
Taylor will host the Kids Health and Safety Fair on Saturday, June 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cione Playground, 2600 Aramingo Ave., rain or shine.
“The Senior Expo is so successful we wanted to do one for the kids,” Taylor said. “It’s a challenge for parents because there is so much info out there, but we wanted to provide it in a concise fashion.”
While this is the first event Taylor is hosting with an emphasis on health and safety for kids, it’s not the first kid-centric event he has hosted.
In the early 2000s, Taylor previously held a series of fairs for kids at the former Northeast Catholic High School that highlighted all the kid-friendly organizations in the district, from athletic teams to art classes.
This event will not feature any athletic or art organizations; instead, it will focus on providing information about topics of concern for parents from bicycle safety to fingerprinting.
The idea for the fair stemmed from car seat and other child-related legislation that Taylor has worked on over the years,
Last year, the House passed a bill, which was signed by Gov. Wolf, that required children to remain rear-facing in car seats until the age of 2.
Individuals who bring a car seat will be able to participate in a car seat safety check, which will be performed by the 26th Police District.
Other entities and organizations that will be represented include CHIP, Operation Safe Kids for fingerprinting and pictures from the U.S. Secret Service, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, SEPTA, the Poison Control Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and ORCA and PROPAC.
While the civic groups might seem out of place at first among the other organizations, keeping kids safe requires families to be involved in the community, according to Taylor.
“We want to try to get people to participate more regularly in community groups than just on a crisis-to-crisis basis,” he said. “When something happens in the neighborhood, you’ll see more people at a meeting, and then the next one, attendance might be down.”
Although the event is geared toward parents and their children, because of the information that will be available, “anyone who walks a lot or wants to be involved,” could find the event informative.
“The overall goal of the fair is there’s info and organizations out there that provide health and safety info to the public, and we want to match the people to the services they need,” Taylor said.
To register for the car seat safety check, call Taylor’s office at 215–708–3139. RSVP for Operation Safe Kids for fingerprinting at 215–708–3139. There are a limited number of spots available. For more details on the Kids Health and Safety Fair, visit Facebook.com/RepTaylor or call the office.
