The Tree House Tour de Cookie... What a fantastic day!
Last year you told us that you'd come back this year with your friends...and you did!!
Ridership was up over 75% compared to last year!
We want to thank all of our sponsors, cookie stand hosts, bakers, riders (542 of you showed up!), exhibitors, volunteers, donors, food vendors, entertainers, and anyone who participated in any way for helping us create such a fun and successful day. Every year more people find out about the services provided by The Tree House because of you! You helped us raise awareness and funds needed to continue our work for the children in our community.
We also want to give special thanks to the fantastic people at The Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus for giving The 2015 Tree House Tour de Cookie a home. And guess what! We will be returning to Johns Hopkins on May 7, 2016 to do it all again!
We have many, many photos to share with you. Over the coming weeks check our website and our 2015 Facebook Event page periodically. We will be uploading them as soon as we can. If you would like a copy of a photo, let us know at treehousecac@gmail.com and we'll contact our fabulous photographer, Suzanne Stout, for you. We also have a movie in production, courtesy of Green Buzz Agency. We'll let you know when that's finished too. If you have photos or GoPro videos that you are willing to share with us, send us an email at treehousecac@gmail.com. We'd love to see them...and share them!
We have "I'm a Tough Cookie" t-shirts, Kid's Ride t-shirts and Tree House Tour de Cookie bumper stickers still available. We also have Tree House Tour de Cookie water bottles available. If you are interested in any of these click here.
Lastly, thank you so much for filling out our online surveys after the event. We take your suggestions very seriously and plan to implement many of them next year. You are good friends to The Tree House!
Our 2016 Tree House Tour de Cookie Facebook Event Page is up!
Many of you will be invited soon, but you can click here and join now.
Warm Weather Safety
The days have gotten longer, summer is around the corner, and we now find ourselves happily outside enjoying the weather. While you are taking advantage of the great outdoors over the next few months, we want to make sure that you and your family remain safe. Here are just a few things to think about: Safety in the Sun
Protect yourself and your children from skin cancer later in life by following a few simple practices when you are outdoors:
Stay in the shade
Cover up!
Apply sunscreen
Put on a hat
Wear sunglasses
Water Safety
Swimming is great fun and great exercise, but for the very young and inexperienced it can be dangerous. The highest rates of drowning are in children ages 1 to 4. So, when you’re near the water with children be sure to:
Watch your child at ALL times
Ensure there are lifeguards on duty
Remain in close proximity to your child
Teach your child not to run near the pool
In addition, it would be very wise to:
Teach your child to swim
Learn CPR
Stay Cool in the Heat
Normally, our bodies can cool themselves pretty efficiently. But when the weather gets extremely hot and humid heat illnesses may develop. To help protect children against this:
Encourage your child to drink water regularly to stay hydrated
Have a cool, air-conditioned space available for your child. If your home is not air-conditioned, consider a library or other public building nearby.
If your child is feeling hot, give him/her a cool bath or water mist
NEVER leave your child in a car or other enclosed vehicle
Playground Safety-
Every year over 200,000 children age 14 and younger nationally are treated in emergency rooms for playground related injuries. While you can’t prevent every accident, there are many things you can do to help your child stay safe.
Supervise your child while he/she is at the playground
Evaluate the safety of the playground itself
Teach your children to act responsibly at the playground
Insect Bites & Stings-
You can’t avoid insect bites entirely, but you can help improve your odds:
To limit your chances of mosquito bites, avoid areas with standing water
Avoid ticks while hiking by remaining in the center of the trail and keep as covered up as possible. Shower and check for ticks as soon as you come inside.
Don’t disturb bee or wasp nests. Have a professional remove them.
Wear shoes
Avoid perfume and sweet smelling beauty products
Anyone who is allergic to insects should wear a medical alert necklace or bracelet.
For more information about all of these topics and links to valuable safety information, click here.
Every year The Tree House offers an externship program to doctoral students in psychology, and every summer we must bid adieu those who take advantage of this opportunity. Our externs are trauma-trained and passionate about making the lives of abused children better. One of our externs described her experiences as "Fabulous!" She added, "It was incredible to be a part of such a challenging and intense journey toward healing. It was an experience I will never forget."
We won't forget you either. All of us at The Tree House wish all of our externs success and fulfillment in their future careers!
Help us spread the word about The Tree House. Forward this newsletter to a few friends!
Support The Tree House
You can help us provide mental health, medical, victim advocacy and other services to abused and neglected children in Montgomery County. All it takes is a small donation.
We are in desperate and immediate need of donations to put toward transportation costs! Please help us get children to the services they need.
