The Chester County COVID-19 Business Task Force is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May, 26, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. for county businesses and organizations looking to reopen, revise, or expand operations due to the impact of the Coronavirus.
The first webinar, led by Lucia Mullen, MPH, an analyst at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, will focus on preparing businesses and organizations of all sizes and types to determine their risk of transmission of COVID-19. The webinar will also provide a toolkit that enables businesses to identify their areas of risk and suggestions to reduce it.
Welcome to the beginning of our new series on journaling! Journaling is a practice we stereotypically associate with kids and preteens who complain about their parents and gush about their crushes and chat about school in a diary with “DO NOT READ” scribbled in all caps over the front cover – which is a perfectly valid and fun form of journaling, don’t get me wrong! But in fact, many people from the young to the old have picked up journaling as a form of creative and personal expression, and there are studies that show the benefits of journaling for our health. Not only that, but journaling can come in many more shapes and sizes than you might think. Throughout this series on journaling, we will present to you some of these journaling methods in hopes that you might find one that strikes your fancy.
For this first installment, we will discuss the most basic form of journaling: regular, old-fashioned diary journaling. I think you probably all understand what this entails, and many of you might have even had this type of journal when you were young, but some of you might not know just how beneficial it can be for your mental and physical health. Below, we have a couple links to resources talking about this, but to keep it short and simple: a journal is a place where you can write down your thoughts and feelings in a safe, judgment-free space so that you can examine them and better understand them, which can help you manage stress, anxiety, and depression. And as a consequence, lowering your stress, anxiety, and depression has been proven to have wide-ranging physical health benefits.
If this sounds appealing to you, we have a challenge for you this week…
**Take 5 minutes or less (or more!) every day for a week to just write. You can write in a physical notebook or in a digital Word or Google doc – whatever’s easiest for you. But don’t worry if you miss a day! The point of this exercise is to reduce stress, not add to it. You can write about anything, even just one sentence or one phrase will do. What did you do today? What did you accomplish? What do you want to accomplish tomorrow? If you didn’t do anything that day, that’s okay. You are allowed to have those days. We all have them. Instead, write about what television shows or movies you watched, or what music you’re really into right now, or how you felt that day. If you really, truly can’t come up with anything, go for my mother’s default in conversation: How was the weather?**
Normally, if you can start with one sentence, it’s easier to move on to two, then three, then more. And by the end of the week, you’ll have a record of how the week went for you. Did you have a bad week? Were you tired or bored or down a lot? Looking back at this record might help you see why you had such a bad week and come up with strategies for making the next week better. Or maybe you had a wonderful week, picking up a new hobby that you’re finding you really love, spending a lot of happy, quality time with your family, and so on. You’ll be able to look back at those times a year from now and remember the happiness that you felt. If you continued with the new hobby, maybe you’ll be a year into it and be able to look back and see the exact date that you started. It’s like a mini time capsule just for you and your life.
If this method of diary journaling seems too vague or too boring to be of any use or interest to you, or maybe you find part-way through the week that it just isn’t working for you, keep an eye out for our next installments where we will be giving you some ideas for more different types of journaling. We’ll be talking about Bullet Journaling, Mindfulness Journaling, Dream Journaling, Art Journaling, Micro Journaling, and more. The most important thing to keep in mind throughout this whole series is: Does this work for you?
The 2020 Census is underway – more than half the households across America have responded – and more are responding every day. Online, phone and mailed self-responses will continue throughout the data collection process.
In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Census Bureau has adjusted 2020 Census operations in order to:
Protect the health and safety of the American public and Census Bureau employees.
Implement guidance from Federal, State, and local authorities regarding COVID-19.
Ensure a complete and accurate count of all communities.
Now the Census will continue to collect responses through October 31, 2020.
If you haven’t yet responded to the Census, find out how you can here.
The Chester County Food Bank will accept produce donations beginning next week on Tuesday 5/26. They will accept produce donations from HOME GROWERS Monday and Wednesday 10-12 PM and Raised Bed Garden PARTNERS on Tuesday and Thursday 10-12PM. Gardeners can pull up to the side of the building where you will see a station set up with a produce scale and donation slips to fill out. There will be a pallet with crates for the produce to be placed into. After placing the produce in the crates, the gardener will ring the bell that is set up near the stairs and then return to their vehicle. A staff member will respond to the bell and bring the produce in immediately.
*In the case of severe weather, the drop-off station will be moved directly inside of the warehouse door.
When donating to CCFB bagging in bulk is preferred – organized by crop. Do not mix muddy roots with leafy greens. Do not seal bags completely, leave them slightly opened to allow respiration/moisture to escape. Large clear bags or produce bags can be provided by CCFB.
When donating directly to food cupboards bag produce in household sized portions in produce bags.
Wash hands thoroughly and wear glovesUse clean tools and containers
Only donate quality produce you would enjoy eating yourself.
Agencies reserve the right to decline your donation if it does not meet their standards of quality. For example: bolted, excessively muddy, or inedible.
Here are agencies that will also accept produce donations:
Listening and coloring – it’s a great combination and a relaxing way to unwind. So download an audiobook, grab your colored pencils, and try one of these free coloring pages!
We are restarting our existing book groups as virtual programs. Please see our June titles and dates below. These groups are all being held online via Zoom. We are requiring registration for these online book groups in order to send out the Zoom meeting information. Click on the date below to register. Information on our adult book groups can also be found on our website: http://bit.ly/chescolibs-bookgroups.
Comics Unbound Group Monday, June 15, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Read any comic published by Dark Horse. We have Dark Horse titles available in our OverDrive collection (available at chester.overdrive.com or via Libby); search Dark Horse Comics to find these titles.
A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants 2 hours before the program starts. Make sure to check the email address you registered with to receive the link. You do not need a Zoom account to attend the virtual program.
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Jerry Oleksiak announced the launch of Pennsylvania’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program to provide an additional 13 weeks of benefits to people who exhaust their regular unemployment compensation (UC).
PEUC is included in the new federal unemployment compensation benefits provided by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Pennsylvania has implemented all programs under the new CARES Act and paid out nearly $7.4 billion in total unemployment benefits since mid-March.
Important information about the extended benefits program follows and has also been emailed or mailed via the United States Postal Service to all individuals who potentially qualify for PEUC.
Phoenixville Area Community Services (PACS) will be hosting a no-contact Community Food “Drive” Saturday, May 30th, 12-3 p.m.
Simply drive up to the PACS loading zone at 257 Church Street at the corner of Gay Street in Phoenixville with your nonperishable donations in the trunk or back of your car. Our staff and volunteers will unload the donations following social distancing guidelines.
Please no foods past the expiration date or previously opened. This is a rain or shine event.
From artists, writers and queens to American leaders, world figures and icons, biographies of the famous and influential give us fascinating insight into exceptional intellect, creativity and vulnerability.
Download or reserve your copy of these selected biographies in eBook or eAudiobook format:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin – eBook
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis – eBook
Ansel Adams: A Biography by Mary Street Alinder – eBook
Earlier this week, Pennsylvania received approval from Food and Nutrition Service to join the pilot program that lets SNAP recipients purchase groceries online through participating retailers in early June.
Now that approval has been received, DHS is working with its EBT vendor and approved retailers to implement system changes necessary to implement online payment for PA’s SNAP recipients. These system changes will take approximately two weeks to complete the testing and validation. Implementation could not begin without FNS’ approval. Now that approval has been received, OHS expects to have online grocery purchasing activated for SNAP recipients by the beginning of June. Once active, only eligible food items normally paid for by SNAP will be able to be purchased online with SNAP benefits. Delivery fees, driver tips, and other associated charges may not be paid for with SNAP benefits. Due to the expedited timeframe to implement this initiative does not include the ability to transact Cash Assistance benefits using the EBT card. Therefore, individuals will need to use another method of payment to cover the non-allowable fees such as a pre-paid debit card.
The pilot program currently includes three approved retailers: Amazon, Walmart, and ShopRite. Retailers that are interested in participating must contact FNS to review the requirements to be added to the program. And, just as a reminder, retailers that do not wish to join the pilot program can still offer delivery or pick-up flexibility options for SNAP recipients by using mobile EBT processing equipment that would allow customers to pay with SNAP when groceries are delivered or picked up. Farmers markets may be able to receive this processing equipment at no cost through a grant opportunity provided by DI-IS.
Stay Connected with Chescolibraries 