Nana Meriwether to Drop Puck, Meet Fans When Mallards Take on Arizona

MOLINE, Ill. (February 27, 2014) - The Quad City Mallards and Genesis Health System will welcome Nana Meriwether, Miss USA 2012, to the Mallards' Friday, March 7 game against the Arizona Sundogs at the iWireless Center.

Nana will drop the puck for a ceremonial faceoff just before the 7:05 p.m. start of the game and will meet fans, sign autographs and pose for pictures during that contest.

After being named Miss Maryland USA 2012, Nana went on to win the title of Miss USA 2012 in December of that year.  Nana is also a professional and Olympic-level volleyball player, philanthropist and highly accomplished student.

"Since her first visit to the Quad Cities last spring, Nana has been working with us as a member of the Genesis Philanthropy Board of Directors. Her expertise and experience with global health has been hugely beneficial to us.  Nana brings a unique perspective and a passion for health and wellness," said Genesis Health Services Foundation executive director Missy Gowey.  "I'm excited she'll have a chance to meet our Mallards fans and gain in her understanding of what makes the Quad Cities a great place to live."

In 2007, Nana co-founded the Meriwether Foundation, an international non-profit organization dedicated to improving health and empowering communities.  The foundation conducts health, education, nutrition and empowerment programs that provide assistance to impoverished rural communities in five southern African countries: Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  More information on the Meriwether Foundation can be found at www.MeriwetherFoundation.org.

Born in South Africa and raised in the Washington D.C. area, Nana was standout in volleyball first at Duke University and then, after transferring, at UCLA.  At Duke, Nana followed in the trailblazing footsteps of her father Delano, who was the first African American to be admitted to and graduate from the Duke University School of Medicine.  By the end of her college career, Nana had broken three NCAA volleyball records, led UCLA to the NCAA Final Four and earned NCAA All-American honors two years in a row.

Nana was a Dean's List student at Duke and was named to the Director's Honor Roll on multiple occasions while at UCLA before graduating with a degree in political science.  She was also named to both the NCAA and Pac 10 Conference All-Academic teams.

In addition to appearing on NBC for both the 2012 and 2013 Miss USA competitions, Nana has been featured in Sports Illustrated and on Lifetime's Project Runway and Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta and New York.

Tickets for March 7 game and all Mallards regular season home tilts can be purchased at the iWireless Center ticket office, Ticketmaster outlets, through ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000.  The ticket office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.

About Genesis Health System
Genesis Health System, its affiliates and partners offer a full continuum of health care services.  Genesis Health System's affiliates include : acute and tertiary hospital care at Genesis Medical Center, Davenport and DeWitt, Iowa and Genesis Medical Center, Silvis and Aledo in Illinois; home health and hospice services through Genesis VNA and Hospice; Genesis Workplace Services, including occupational health, employee assistance and wellness services for employers and their employees; the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House; senior living facilities offering rehabilitation and long-term care; Genesis Health Group, with more than 170 primary care physicians and specialists; a Family Practice Residency program; Genesis Psychology Associates; three Convenient Care clinics; and Genesis Home Medical Equipment.  Partners include the Genesis Medical Park, Crow Valley, Genesis Imaging Centers and Spring Street Surgical Center, Davenport. Genesis Health System serves a 10-county area of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Genesis also manages Jackson County Regional Health Center in Maquoketa, Iowa. For more information, visit www.genesishealth.com.

About the Quad City Mallards
A proud affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, the Quad City Mallards are in the midst of their seventeenth season their fourth in the Central Hockey League.  One of the winningest teams in all of minor league hockey, the Mallards competed in the United Hockey League from 1995 through 2007 and in the International Hockey League in 2009-10.  The Mallards' proud history has seen them capture the UHL's Colonial Cup Championship three times (1997, 1998, 2001) and secure that league's Tarry Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) for the best overall regular season record.  In 2001, the Mallards made professional hockey history, recording their sixth consecutive season with 50 or more wins, a feat that has yet to be matched.  The iWireless Center provides a unique environment for hockey and features one-of-a-kind seating areas such as the Nest for groups and functions and the exclusive Drake Club.  For more information on the Quad City Mallards or for Mallards tickets go to www.myqcmallards.com.  Fans can also follow the Mallards via Twitter at twitter.com/myqcmallards and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quadcitymallards.

Winners of NO MORE Dating Abuse video challenge 

MOLINE - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon and representatives of Verizon and the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) tomorrow will name four Moline High School students the first place winners of the "NO MORE Dating Abuse" video challenge. February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.

Now in its second year, this challenge is the first of its kind in Illinois and is coordinated by the ICADV and Lt. Governor's office, and sponsored by Verizon. Last September, all high schools throughout the state were encouraged to invite their students to submit a video that called for the end of teen dating violence and promoted healthy relationships. Simon will present Moline High School with $1,000 for submitting the winning entries, and students on the winning team will receive iPads.

Simon also will be joined by state and local officials to honor the Village of Silvis as the newest Illinois Main Street community. The Lt. Governor serves as the ambassador of the Illinois Main Street Program, which is helping to revitalize downtowns and business districts throughout the state.

EVENT: NO MORE Dating Abuse video challenge awards

DATE: Friday, Feb. 28

TIME: 9:15 a.m.

LOCATION: Moline High School auditorium, 3600 Avenue of the Cities, Moline

EVENT: Silvis Illinois Main Street ceremony

DATE: Friday, Feb. 28

TIME: 10 a.m.

LOCATION: Silvis City Hall, 121 11^th Street, Silvis

On February 24-March 2 is the second annual Quad Cities Restaurant Week with over 35 participating restaurants. Check out the website at www.qcrestaurantweek.com and make your lunch and dinner plans.

These days, it seems as though Americans are spending more for college while getting less value in return - a trend research validates, says entrepreneur Matt Stewart.

"The average cost for an in-state public college is $22,261, and a moderate budget for a private college averaged $43,289 for the 2012-2013 academic year; for elite schools, we're talking about three times the cost of your local state school," says Stewart, a spokesperson for College Works Painting, (www.collegeworks.com), which provides practical and life-changing business experience for college students who have shown potential for success. Interns operate their own house-painting business with hands-on guidance from mentors.

Making matters worse, adults in their 30s have 21 percent less net worth than 30-somethings 30 years ago, according to a new Urban Institute report.

"More students are being saddled with long-term debt while getting less value for their education," Stewart says. "Because of the difficulty recent college grads are having finding jobs in today's tough economy; today's students may have even less worth in their 30s than 30-somethings today."

To add value to their professional career, Stewart encourages students to seek outside-the-box avenues for increasing their career stock while in college. Running a business is a great way to do that; he explains why.

• Employers love ambition. A college degree is the minimum qualification employers are seeking. What hiring managers are looking for is that something extra when reviewing a stack of qualified resumes. At the heart of the economy is innovation; it's the difference between simply existing in a market, and thriving in one. Employers know they need people with creativity and gumption for innovation.

• Real-world management of time and money. College is a time when young adults learn to live autonomously. It's the rare student, however, who learns to manage his or her own affairs and the most precious resources in the business world - time and money. Managing employees, driving sales, developing specific skills for a real market and building strong customer relationships are best learned with hands-on experience.

• Learn where they need help. What do you do well and where do you need help? The best way to know with any certainty is through experience. Running a business while attending college allows students to circle back to their education and focus on their trouble areas by adjusting their curriculum in future semester. 

• Develop meaningful bonds. One of the most meaningful aspects of the college experience is the relationships students develop with each other, which often have professional consequences after college. Enlisting the help of fellow students for a common business purpose tends to have a powerful bonding effect.

• Immediate ROI - finding phenomenal success. Most students who run a business during college will not prove to be the next Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburg or David Geffen, which is precisely why students should not drop out of college like those pioneers did. However, a student doesn't have to be the next Zuckerburg to experience amazing success as an entrepreneur. College Hunks Moving Junk is just one recent example that began in an entrepreneurial student mind.

About Matt Stewart

Matt Stewart co-founded National Services Group, which operates College Works Painting, SMJJ Investments and Empire Community Construction. Under the executive team's leadership, NSG has grown from a small Southern California business into a national leader in two industries and has been recognized as an entrepreneurial leader by Ernst & Young, the Orange County Business Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur and hundreds of other periodicals. Stewart has received a several awards, including the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award from the Orange County Business Journal; was named "40 under 40;" and he has twice been a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award.