Sarah Mahoney recently completed all the requirements necessary to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award – the highest in the organization. Rep. Culver met Sarah to learn more about her project, and she is passionate about bridging the gap between students and veterans. She wants to make our community more aware of our nation’s history, especially the sacrifices our veterans have made for our freedoms and to remind us to appreciate and support them. As a result, Culver sponsored a House resolution to recognize November as Veterans Awareness Month, which was unanimously approved by the House on Oct. 10. They are pictured with a copy of the approved resolution.

Six local senior citizens at Manor Care Health Services now have the expertise to help empower their fellow seniors, as they graduated in late October from the Department of Aging’s Pennsylvania Empowered Expert Residents (PEER) program. The program – a partnership among residents, facility staff and the local ombudsman – trained them to self-advocate and empower their fellow residents to improve their quality of life and quality of care in long-term care facilities. Pictured are (from left) Steven Moll, Nancy Troup, Sharon Reeder, Viola Kearney, Jill Kreischer and Sharon Hahn. Several of these residents previously served their communities in similar capacities. They are also pictured with State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Margaret Barajas from the Department of Aging and local ombudsman Kandy Schreffler for organizing the program and ceremony.