Edmond girl wins Poster Contest!

And the winner of this year’s Poison Prevention Week poster contest is…Cecilia Wroblewski, age 11, of Edmonds!  Cecilia’s brightly colored poster beautifully showcases the theme of “Mr. Yuk to the rescue,” outfitting him with a superhero cape, at the ready to help people and pets alike.  Cecilia wins $500, a visit to her school by Mr. Yuk, and her poster will be featured as the Washington Poison Center’s 2014 Poison Prevention Week poster.  The contest’s sponsor, Umpqua Bank, will honor Cecilia by displaying her poster design at the bank and sending a fully-loaded Umpqua Ice Cream truck to Holy Rosary School, where it will be part of an assembly attended by Cecilia and her classmates.

An additional four lucky kids were runners up: Claudia Cano, age 10 of Edmonds, Caitlin Carroll, age 12 of Edmonds, Cassie Bridge, age 12 of Concrete, and Sophie Marie Jones, age 9 of Burien. Each of the runners up receives $100, courtesy of Umpqua Bank, which is celebrating its fifth year of support of the Poison Prevention Week poster contest. Beyond its sponsorships to local non-profits such as ours, Umpqua Bank is an active partner in the community through community outreach efforts, including providing full-time associates with 40 hours of paid volunteer time per year to serve in the neighborhoods they work and live in.  We appreciate their partnership and are glad that we could team up to help the greater good.

March 16-22, 2014 is National Poison Prevention Week and the staff at the Washington Poison Center invites every resident in the state to help them celebrate by visiting their website at www.wapc.org.  Cecilia’s winning poster, and the posters of the four runners up, will be featured on the website. Celebrate Poison Prevention Week by getting rid of old medications, poison proofing your home, and requesting a “Yuk Pak.”

“Thank you to Umpqua Bank for sponsoring our contest and to all the elementary schools, teachers, organizations, clubs, and parents who helped children learn about the dangers of poison,” said Jim Williams, Executive Director of WAPC.  “The children who participated in this contest will take that message home and help educate their siblings and their parents.”

If you are concerned that a poisoning may have occurred, immediately call your Poison Center’s 24/7 hotline at 1-800-222-1222.  Calling within Washington State will connect you to one of the Washington Poison Center’s specially-trained pharmacists, nurses, or poison specialists.  Poison help is always free and confidential (with the exception of a $45 fee for animal calls).  Services are available for non-English speakers and those with hearing problems can call 711 for the Washington Relay service.