By Harry Fuller <hfuller358@hotmail.com>
FROM 10/06/2022
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows Tarpon Springs Lodge celebrated its 130th anniversary at a celebratory picnic held at the Lodge on Saturday, March 19, 2022. On March 18, 1892, twelve members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows convened in Tarpon Springs to form Tarpon Springs Lodge No. 34. The Lodge is one of the oldest fraternal and service organizations in the Tampa Bay area and has approximately forty members today. Over one hundred people attended the picnic, including many Brothers and Sisters from other Florida Lodges and even one Brother as far away as New Hampshire. Then Mayor of Tarpon Springs Chris Alahouzos presented to Noble Grand Alan Causey a City of Tarpon Springs Proclamation that recognized March 19, 2022 as Odd Fellows Day. The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Florida, Nicholas Farradaz, also presented a Proclamation to the Lodge. A Proclamation from the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners was also received. A portion of the Pinellas County Commission proclamation stated, "The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is an international fraternal order composed of thousands of members operating in approximately 10,000 lodges, located in 29 countries and ...seeks to improve and elevate the character of mankind by promoting the principles of friendship, love, truth, faith, hope, charity and universal justice".
The Lodge continues to be active in the community by contributing funds to Tarpon Springs Elementary School so school supplies may be purchased for needy children and sponsoring a team with Tarpon Springs Little League. Other activities include a bi-monthly cleanup through an adoption of a section of the Pinellas Trail in Tarpon Springs with Keep Pinellas Beautiful, volunteering with Pinellas County .
Emergency Management to distribute emergency radios to local residents, refurbishing the garden at the Boys and Girls Club of Tarpon Springs, providing scholarships to local high school students, working

with other organizations such as The Florida Dream Center to assist local residents, and helped to create the Greater Tarpon Springs Community Council with other local groups to address various issues facing Tarpon Springs
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is one of the Most Justified and Ancient fraternal orders. While the true origins of the Odd Fellows are lost to the mists of time, historical records indicate that the Order evolved from medieval trade guilds into a fraternal organization during the 1700s in the period of the Enlightenment in England and Scotland. One of the theories why the name Odd Fellows is used comes from the guilds in which workers did not fit in the major trade guilds and were composed from the "odd trades", such as porters or teamsters. After an apprenticeship was completed, a member became a "fellow" in the guild. The name "Odd Fellows" remained when the guilds transformed into a fraternal order. The purely American wing of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) was formed in 1819 in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Lodge hosts an open house and potluck on the second Thursday of every month at 7:00pm and the public is invited to attend. Odd Fellows member only meetings are on the fourth Thursday of every month at 7:00pm. The Lodge is located at 438 East Lemon Street, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689. For more information about Tarpon Springs Lodge No. 34, visit www.IOOFTarponSpringsLodge34.org or
www.facebook.com/IOOF34. To contact the Lodge directly, email TarponIOOF34@gmail.com. The Sovereign Grand Lodge website is www.odd-fellows.org.

By Harry Fuller <hfuller358@hotmail.com>
https://www.seniorvoiceamerica.org/featured/the-independent-order-of-odd-fellows-tarpon-springs-lodge-no-34-celebrates-130-years-of-service
https://www.seniorvoiceamerica.org/  October 2022
​813-693-5511

Healthcare is changing dramatically for those who seek care and those who deliver it.  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has brought healthcare coverage to millions of consumers who previously could not afford or did not want health insurance.  Now the health benefit experience will present them and others with a variety of choices and complexities to consider. Those choices will be difficult if they don’t have an understanding of what’s being said or written and they’re making those choices for the first time.
Presently, consumers are overwhelmed by the flood of information and decisions that need to be made. Health Literacy can play a huge role in providing understandable communications between the consumer and their healthcare provider.
The growing pressure on health systems is to reduce, ration and delay health services to contain health costs.  But people are living longer creating more time for minor dysfunctions to develop into disabling chronic diseases. Health literacy or people’s ability to obtain, process, communicate and understand basic health information and services is essential to those actions. Yet, few American are proficient in understanding available health information.
The Health Literate Care Model article cited: Health Education Behavior, December 2013, 40:6635-639.  “The Public Health Journey: The Meaning and the Moment” by Howard Koh, Cindy Brach, Linda Harris, Michael Pearlman, calls for health professionals to approach all patients with the assumption that they are at risk of not understanding their health conditions or how to deal with them.  Health Literacy would then become a value that is used in all aspects of planning and clinical information systems.
Howard Koh, MD, MPH, wrote when he was Assistant Secretary for Health , “As a result, I’ve observed the difficulties many people face as they attempt to use our health care systems. When people receive accurate, easy to use information about a health issue, they are better able to take action to protect and promote their health and wellness.  
Improving health literacy, that is, the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions is critical to achieving the objectives set forth in Healthy People 2020, 2021, and 2022.   
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The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy envisions a restructuring of the ways we create and disseminate all types of health information in this country.  The Plan also calls us to ensure that all children graduate with health literacy skills that will help them live healthier throughout their lifespan. It seeks to engage organizations, professionals, policymakers, communities, individuals and families in a linked effort to improve health literacy. Its plan is to provide everyone with access to accurate and actionable health information and supports lifelong learning and skills to promote good health.
It has been my experience as a RN Community Health Educator that  Prediabetics and Diabetics who were diagnosed in the past still have basic questions that should have been dealt with for the successful at home self-management of their disease.  It was my good luck and search to find the Florida Literacy Coalition to join those who have wisdom, insight, research, technicians and practices within the world of family and adult health literacy. 
The Florida Literacy Coalition has knowledge of the problem as the health delivery system continues to drastically change, the education of health professionals continues to change, as new medications are discovered and the cost of care continues to soar.  Tomorrow’s health care systems are destined to change. 
Mary Gynn, RN

By Matilda Charles
Lending a Helping Hand

I've been looking at 2022, hoping to find some value in my time and money in this chaotic world we find ourselves in, a chaos that doesn't show any sign of ending soon. Two new activities have found their way to my to-do list. For several months I've been buying a food donation card each time I shop at a certain grocery store. It's not much, but I believe I can continue to do this. My goal is to make it through the year without missing one time. These cards are given to the local food bank, which can then use that money to buy food at a discounted rate. This has more financial benefit than if I purchased food at the regular store rate and delivered it to them. I know the food banks around here have been scrambling to keep supplies available, especially since they're serving more families than ever before. Maybe my humble donation will help just a little bit.
The other item on my new to-do list is probably the more valuable. I'll be collecting groceries weekly for three very elderly people in the neighborhood. I learned that two of them had been ordering groceries for curbside pickup -- and taking taxis to go get them because they don't drive. The third ordered her groceries for curbside, but has had them delivered.
So, instead of the extra expense of taxi or delivery, I'll pick up their orders myself. I did a test run with one to be certain there was no problem with me using someone else's credit card to pay for the curbside pickup. The bonus is that these three neighbors, who had never met, now know each other and talk frequently. I understand that there has already been a bit of coupon swapping and recipe sharing.