Throughout its 34-county service area, Covenant Hospice social workers help patients and families live with dignity and the highest degree of physical, emotional, social and spiritual comfort, a spokesperson said. 

They provide emotional support to patients and their loved ones, assist in dealing with closure concerns, help in understanding and completing advanced directives, and help in understanding and using Medicare, Medicaid or other insurance benefits. Covenant Hospice social workers also help patients and families who need financial assistance by identifying and accessing community resources.

Contact Covenant's Crestview branch at 682-3628 or visit www.covenanthospice.org for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Covenant Hospice celebrates National Social Worker Month

Editor's Note: This report is part of the News Bulletin's ongoing series on cancer research fundraisers. The newspaper is proud to support Relay For Life Crestview, which will take place 6 p.m. April 25 at Shoal River Middle School.

CRESTVIEW — The local American Cancer Society Relay For Life now has an extra $800 following "The Mystery of Red Leg the Dreaded, Pirate of the Gulf," a Friday fundraiser.

See 5 photos from Act 4 Murder's "The Mystery of Red Leg the Dreaded, Pirate of the Gulf">>

Learn more about Relay For Life>>

The Duke It Out team raised $843 from Act4Murder's pirate-themed dinner theatre at Foxwood Country Club. Relay team members dressed as pirates and served guests a three-course meal during the performance. Many of the 59 attendees went home with door prizes, and all attempted to solve "whodunit."

Crestview's Relay For Life effort comprises 35 teams, according to its website. Duke It Out, which includes retired and current civil service employees at Duke Field on Eglin Air Force Base, has been a participant for 14 years, event organizer Laurie Klausutis said.

The cause is close to her heart.

"Unfortunately, I have lost two grandmothers, a great uncle and some very close friends to cancer, and I have some friends that are battling it right now," she said. "I do it for them."

For the past 10 years, Duke It Out has raised an average of $10,000 for the ACS, Relay Co-Chair Loney Whitley said.

The team schedules Boston butt and cookie dough sales, yard sales and other events, all leading up to each Relay For Life, when people walk a track and participate in other activities all night long to commemorate people touched by cancer.

Act4Murder's professional actors said they enjoy entertaining for worthy causes.

"We always love doing fundraisers," Mary Ann Troiano, who portrayed Pillage Ann Freebooty, said. "We know what it means to the people who have hired us."  

In this case, the issue was personal.

"My father died of cancer," she said. "It may have been 14 years ago, but for me it still feels like yesterday."

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Relay For Life

WHEN: Begins at 6 p.m. April 24

WHERE: Shoal River Middle School, 3200 E. Redstone Ave., Crestview

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pirate-themed dinner theatre raises $800 for American Cancer Society (PHOTOS)

Emergency Medical Technician Barbara Chestnut is the latest HERO Award recipient for a humanitarian act she performed while on duty in late November 2013.

On Nov. 23, Chestnut transported a sick child from North Okaloosa Medical Center to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. The child's great-grandmother and legal guardian accompanied her. Chestnut noted that the grandmother was in a tired, weakened state, and upon inquiry learned she had no money and had not eaten all day. Chestnut took her to a nearby Wendy’s and bought her dinner.

“This is a true act of kindness,” County Administrator Ernie Padgett said during a recent Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners meeting.

 “This shows true compassion that many EMTs exhibit, and Ms. Chestnut’s help was far-reaching, providing nourishment for the grandmother so she could better respond to the needs of her sick grandchild,” Public Safety Director Dino Villani said.

The Humanitarian Efforts Recognized by Okaloosa County award recognizes a deed, act or event in which an employee does something of a humanitarian or heroic nature, beyond job requirements.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EMT feeds needy woman, earns HERO Award

NICEVILLE — Northwest Florida State College's Professional and Continuing Education department will soon offer new fitness classes including the following:

•Zumba Gold: $25 per person, 5-6 p.m. Mondays, March 3 through April 28, and 5-6 p.m. Wednesdays, March 5 through April 30.

Contact Amanda Barker, 729-6085 or barkera@nwfsc.edu, for more details.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NWF State College offers Zumba course

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Bridgeway Psychosocial Wellness Center recently received a trophy and a pizza party for their winning holiday door decorating contest entry, "Walking in a Winter Wonderland."

The trophy was awarded during Bridgeway's quarterly staff meeting.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bridgeway in Crestview wins 'Winter Wonderland' trophy

CRESTVIEW — New hyperbaric chambers will help treat troublesome wounds that don't seem to heal, North Okaloosa Medical Center officials said.

See 8 photos from Thursday's grand opening at the NOMC Wound Healing Center>>

NOMC's 2,500-square-foot Wound Healing Center, located at 125 E. Redstone Ave., Suite D, now staffs five people who assist with such needs.

Once a patient enters the compression chamber, specialists use large amounts of oxygen to treat damaged tissue or body parts with poor blood supply. These therapies can reduce swelling and fight infectious wounds.

"If wounds don't respond to the traditional methods of dressing changes and medications … once you get past a certain point, this is the appropriate adjunct," CEO David Fuller said.

Renovating a former physician's office and opening the facility cost $550,000, and two hyperbaric chambers are valued at $250,000, hospital officials said.

It's worth the investment to help patients, particularly those with diabetes, which can lead to restricted blood flow in the lower extremities, they said.

"There is a large need for this in this community," Heath Evans, NOMC's assistant chief executive officer, said. "To bring this here, we can offer the care that folks need, close to home."  

Hyperbaric safety technician Tim Dreyer seemed optimistic about how much use the equipment will receive.

"This is new to the area," he said. "As word of mouth spreads that hyperbaric (technology) is here, it will grow tremendously."

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NOMC officials: New hyperbaric chambers could help diabetes patients (PHOTOS)

Editor's Note:This report is part of the News Bulletin's ongoing series on cancer-research fundraisers. The newspaper is proud to support Relay For Life Crestview, which will take place 6 p.m. April 25 at Shoal River Middle School.

CRESTVIEW — Red Leg the Dreaded and his pirate crew, including the beautiful but deadly Pillage Ann Freebooty, have set their sights on Crestview.

Act4Murder and Crestview's "Duke It Out" Relay For Life team will present the murder mystery dinner theatre production, "The Mystery of Red Leg the Dreaded, Pirate of the Gulf," on Feb. 28. The interactive comedy will be performed at the Foxwood Country Club as a fundraiser for the community's annual cancer awareness effort.

The menu includes salad, the "pirate's choice" of jerk-rubbed smoked pork loin or beef brisket, Caribbean black beans and rice, grilled pineapple rings, and for dessert, Blackbeard's Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce.

"Feel free to dress in your favorite pirate costume while enjoying the dinner," playwright and director Paula Hilton said.

And remember, Hilton said, "someone's gonna die!"

And someone will win a prize for figuring out whodunnit.

Want to go?

WHAT:"The Mystery of Red Leg the Dreaded, Pirate of the Gulf," interactive comedy dinner theatre

WHEN:Doors open 6:15 p.m.; dinner and show are 7 p.m. Feb. 28

WHERE:Foxwood Country Club, 4927 Antioch Road, Crestview

TICKETS: $37.50; includes dinner and show. Call 603-3500, 537-4654 or 902-1075 for tickets. Visit www.act4murder.com for show details

Email News Bulletin Staff Arts and Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Murder mystery dinner theatre/Relay For Life fundraiser scheduled

The Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida is observing "Through With Chew Week" to raise awareness about smokeless tobacco's consequences.

While cigarette-smoking rates have declined, use of smokeless tobacco, such as chew and dip, has remained steady among Florida’s youths over the past decade.

The state offers free quit services that can double a tobacco user’s chances of quitting for good. Residents who call the Florida Quitline, 1-877-U-CAN-NOW, can receive free nicotine replacement therapy, like the patch or a combination of the patch and nicotine gum.

Visit tobaccofreeflorida.com for details.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: State observing 'Through With Chew Week'

This week, Crestview High School, Laurel Hill School and Fort Walton Beach High School's Students Working Against Tobacco members are educating the public about the dangers of chewing tobacco.

They're providing lunchtime presentations as part of an ongoing effort to teach others about smokeless tobacco's harmful effects.

Last week, Crestview High School student SWAT members Shayna Clay, Erika Newland and Olivia Rodriguez presented a resolution to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in Niceville, which the City Council unanimously approved. Niceville joins Crestview, Laurel Hill and Fort Walton Beach in the ban.

Such efforts, including  those from the Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County and Tobacco Free Florida, aim to encourage longer lives.

“Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States; and nearly 90 percent of tobacco users started before they were 18 years old,” Karen Chapman, the Okaloosa health department's director, said.

“Tobacco products that taste like chocolate, candy or fruit appeal to kids, so banning the sale of these products is a great step in the right direction.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Students teaching classmates about dip's dangers