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Vol. 35 No. 37
Freshmen get ready for school
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Village lights the way gold September is recognized as Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month failed her. When I spoke to her mother, she said, ‘This is just not right. How, in this day and In recognition of Pediatric age, is there not a cure? This is Cancer Awareness Month, the not how a childhood sickness Village of Rockville Centre should be.’” Children diagnosed with invited community members to gather at Village Hall on Aug. 29 cancer, Ruchalski said, are often treated with for a special treeadult chemotheralighting ceremony. py, which can be The annual event ineffective and even honored the memotoxic, and can, in ry of Mary Ruchalssome cases, cause ki, a seventh-grade secondary cancers St. Agnes Cathedral or other chronic School student who issues. died in March 2018 Research by the of rhabdomyosarcoCoalition Against ma, a rare form of Childhood Cancer soft-tissue cancer. CARol RuCHAlSkI determined that, on H e r m o t h e r, average, survivors Carol Ruchalski, Co-founder, who received radiacreated the Mary the Mary Ruchalski tion or certain Ruchalski Founda- Foundation types of chemothertion in 2018 to apy h ave a n spread awareness of the disease and raise money increased risk of damaging the for pediatric cancer research, in heart and blood vessels as well the hope of helping other fami- as other problems. “The average lifespan of a lies with children affected by it. “Tonight I’m wearing a child treated with chemotherabracelet of a little girl that lost py is 57 years old,” Ruchalski her battle to cancer a few weeks said. “That’s 21 years less than ago. She was 11 months old,” the average adult.” More than 200 cancer drugs Ruchalski said. “At the time of her death, she was cancer-free, h a d b e e n d e ve l o p e d a n d but because of the high toxicity approved for adults as of of her treatments, her tiny body Continued on page 20
By DANIEl oFFNER
doffner@liherald.com
Daniel Offner/Herald
Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray joins members of the village board, RVC Blue Speaks and the Rockville Centre police department on aug. 27, to announce that the department is the first agency in the state to become certified sensory-inclusive by KultureCity.
Rockville Centre police are becoming sensory-inclusive By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
The Rockville Centre Police Department is the first agency in the state to become certified sensory-inclusive by KultureCity, a Bir mingham, Alabama-based nonprofit organization that promotes inclusivity and accessibility for individuals with sensory needs and invisible disabilities. Through its program, KultureCity trains of ficers to become better equipped to address the one in four people diagnosed with an invisible disability, such as autism, dementia, PTSD, ADHD and traumatic brain injury, to name just a few. The village board announced plans to introduce the certification program in June.
Since then, all 58 sworn officers with the Rockville Centre Police Department have completed the course to be better prepared, accepting, and inclusive of everyone’s needs. “This vital training enhances the day-today interactions with individuals who have sensory needs or invisible disabilities,” Rockville Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray said in a statement, last week, following a press conference outside police headquarters. “Thanks to the partnership with KultureCity, our officers are equipped with the tools to respond with compassion and the necessary skills to make a positive impact.” The certification process provided local law enforcement with training from lead medical and neurodivergent professionals on Continued on page 13
W
e have to make pediatric cancer a priority in this country.