Youth Courses Sponsored by Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Begin this Month - Offering Mix of Spiritual Growth and Rock Music

DAVENPORT, Iowa, April 14, 2009 - This summer, some of America's most popular hard rock and hip-hop Christian artists will Rock the River in Quad Cities - but the fun is already starting. This month, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is sponsoring a teen-oriented program called FM419 - two-days of music, fellowship and spiritual growth where young people tackle questions about their walk with God, how to deal with the challenges of life and how to share their faith with others.

WHAT: FM419 Youth Training - OPEN TO MEDIA

WHEN: April 24-25 (Add to Outlook Calendar)

WHERE: Harvest Bible Church
3800 E 53rd Street
Davenport, IA

Adults also have the opportunity to participate in preparations for this summer's Rock the River event with the Christian Life & Witness Course, which is kicking off this month at churches across the region. Click here for more information and the local Christian Life & Witness schedule.

Rock the River Tour is a new evangelistic summer concert series that features seven hours of high-voltage music plus brief, challenging messages by Franklin Graham. These one-day events will rock their way up the Mississippi River through Baton Rouge, St. Louis, Quad Cities and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Rock the River Tour comes to the Quad Cities on Saturday, Aug. 8.

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Scott County Family Y Celebrates YMCA Healthy Kids^® Day on April 18

DAVENPORT, IA - April 10, 2009 - On Saturday, April 18, the Scott County Family Y invites the Quad Cities to participate in YMCA Healthy Kids® Day, the nation's largest health day for children and families. YMCA Healthy Kids Day includes fun, engaging and creative activities for children and families and promotes year-long wellness and healthy living. YMCA Healthy Kids Day events are free and open to all.

"As families struggle to balance life's daily demands and persevere during an economic downturn, it is important that we reach beyond our YMCA facility to the entire community," says Deb Gustafson, Executive Director of YMCA Child Care and Family Services. "We've been doing this with the annual YMCA Healthy Kids Day event for more than 5 years. Through this event, the Scott County Family Y and our community partners have given our neighbors the opportunity to take their minds off daily stresses, and instead have fun and focus on positive sustainable healthy lifestyle changes together, as a family."

This year's event is from 8:30am-1pm, at the West Family YMCA, 3603 West Locust Street Davenport. It will feature a highly interactive concert with nationally recognized children's performer CJ. His children's music has been described as the "Wiggles meets "Justin Timberlake" and is designed for children in kindergarten through third grade. He will be performing from 11am to Noon and is being sponsored by the Davenport Community School District. Other activities taking place at the 2009 Healthy Kids Day event include : Family Body Vive; cheerleading clinic; youth obstacle course, family Zumba; healthy sneak creation and appearances by area mascots - Quad City Riverbandits Rascal, Scrubby Bear from the American Red Cross, Happy the Dog from Happy Joes and many more. Community agencies also participating in YMCA Healthy Kids Day are Medic EMS, Davenport Fire Department, Scott County Health Department, I Smile Program and many more.

For the past 150 years, the Scott County Family Y has supported families and individuals in good times and bad. During this period of uncertainty, the YMCA mission of providing opportunities for healthy spirit, mind and body for all, is more important than ever. "In tough economic times, it is imperative to keep focus on the important areas of our lives - the areas in which we have the power to make a positive difference?health and well-being, family and community," added Gustafson.

YMCA Healthy Kids Day will be celebrated across the country at more than 1,700 YMCAs. Last year, more than 700,000 attendees participated in YMCA Healthy Kids Day events nationwide.

YMCA Healthy Kids Day is supported by the following national donors: Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney, Eli Lilly and Company, Huggies Little Swimmers Brand, Northwestern Mutual Foundation and Tropicana. YMCA Healthy Kids Day is also supported by the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors.

For more information about YMCA Healthy Kids Day, call the West Family YMCA at (563) 386-4414 or visit: www.ScottCountyFamilyY.org.

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Rock Island, Illinois - Saint Xavier University will host an information meeting on the Master of Arts in Teaching and Leadership degree program. This degree program is for practicing teachers who want to expand their teaching repertories and improve their students' achievement. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 21, from 4:00-5:00 p.m. at the Quad-Cities Graduate Study Center, 639 38th Street, Rock Island, Illinois. All information meeting attendees who enroll for the next term will receive a $100 discount on tuition. Teachers will be advised about group discounts.

Those who cannot attend may receive a packet of information on the program by calling the GradCenter at (309) 794-7376, toll free 888-331-4723 or by email QC@gradcenter.org.

The Quad-Cities Graduate Study Center, through its member institutions, facilitates access to local graduate degree and certificate programs. Students are able to choose from a diverse selection of over 80 graduate degree programs and certificate programs offered in convenient locations during evening and weekend hours and via the Internet. For more information visit our website at www.gradcenter.org.

Davenport, April 2009 -  Randy & Amy Johnson of Orion, IL know the heartaches and challenges of being parents to a child with a fatal disease firsthand: their son, Dillon, 15 yrs old, suffers from the devastating disease cystic fibrosis.  "Although to look at Dillon, one would see a very normal, active 15 year old, but the reality is that combating the effects of cystic fibrosis and keeping him healthy involves daily medications and time consuming treatments to break up the mucus in his lungs and fight infections as well as enzyme pills to help him digest his food properly." said Johnson.

CF is a genetic disease that affects tens of thousands of children and adults in the United States.  More than ten million Americans are unknowing, symptomless carriers of one copy of the defective CF gene:  It takes two copies of the gene for a child to be born with CF. The defective gene causes the body to produce a faulty protein that leads to abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and results in life-threatening lung infections and respiratory problems. The mucus also obstructs the pancreas, causing inability in the body to absorb nutrients in food. The median life expectancy has improved from early childhood in the 1950s to the mid-30s today; however, most individuals with CF must battle lung disease for their entire lives.

"When Dillon was diagnosed with CF at 2 1/2 years, I started to campaign on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's GREAT STRIDES Walk in 1998.  I had set a goal of $1,500, but ended up raising over $3,000!  I was amazed at how our family and friends supported us then and continue to do so today.  Many people say that fundraising is hard," said Johnson, "but that's not how parents with a child who has a fatal illness see it.  While we're glad that CF research has increased the life expectancy of CF patients to the mid-thirties, that's not good enough for us!"

The GREAT STRIDES Walk raises millions of dollars nationally each year to fund vital cystic fibrosis (CF) research and care programs and is the CF Foundation's largest and fastest-growing event. The Quad Cities Walk will take place on April 25, 2009 at the Scott County Park - Whispering Pines Shelter.  Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the Walk starts at 10 a.m.  In addition to the walk, there will be food and music, kids activities, and a silent auction.

This year, GREAT STRIDES Quad Cities plans to raise over $40,000 at the Walk to fund the cutting-edge research that has the potential for making a profound impact on the lives of children and young adults with the disease.  More than 90 cents of every dollar raised is used to fund CF research and care programs.

"Although the CF Foundation is proud of its achievements in its 50-year history, lives continue to be lost every day to cystic fibrosis.  The need for financial support is more critical than ever, said Claire Scholl, Director of the Iowa Chapter.  "For the first time in the CF Foundation's history, scientific opportunities are coming at a pace that exceeds the ability to fund them. GREAT STRIDES is a community event, and the community is uniting now to keep the funds coming and the momentum of research advances going."

Call the Iowa Chapter at 515-252-1530 for more information, or visit our website at www.cff.org.

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