Elyse Jankowski, HealthyWomen program assistant
Being a staffer here in the office of HealthyWomen, I get to talk to real women, on the phone everyday. But this past Sunday I had the chance to do something that I love even more - go out into the community and speak with them face to face. I had the privilege of exhibiting for HealthyWomen at the New Jersey date of the 2009 Vans Warped Tour, the nation's longest-running annual concert festival. Nearly 16,000 fans, primarily teenagers and young adults, attended the all-day event at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport.
My volunteer and I set up shop in the nonprofit area, alongside organizations such as To Write Love on Her Arms and Sex Communication. There was a sense of community in the air; though each one of our causes varied, we shared a similar goal of educating and raising awareness.
Free materials offered at our HealthyWomen table included healthywomen.org key chains with Sharpie minis attached (quite the hot item!), Your Menstrual Cycle: How it Works, How to Manage it, and our Oral Contraceptives Tip Card. We also had sign-up sheets for our free e-newsletters.
Throughout the day, both young women and men visited our table to grab some freebies and learn more about HealthyWomen. Parents took our publications and mentioned being happy to share them with their daughters. The best moment of the day for me was towards the end - a young boy (couldn't have been more than 12) walked up to our table, looked around and asked, "What can I do to help you?" Warmed my heart!
In short, Warped Tour was an amazing and rewarding experience. Educating young people is my passion, and I am so happy to do so through HealthyWomen! If I met you on Sunday, thank you very much for stopping by our table! I hope you enjoy the many resources we have here on healthywomen.org.