Write a comment
Recognizing Oswego County (ROC) has announced that Brian Katzman has been selected as community champion for October.
Each month, ROC uses this recognition effort as a platform for emphasizing the wonderful work that is happening in Oswego County to promote the health and wellness of children, families and adults. The theme for October is tobacco control.
Brian Katzman is a probation officer with Oswego County and a scout leader of Pack 885. His work with DWI and substance abuse cases fuels his desire to work with young people to help them develop into responsible adults.
Last spring, Katzman consulted with Abby Jenkins, program coordinator of the Tobacco Free Network of Oswego County, as he was preparing to educate his Weblos scouts about the harms of smoking. Their discussion inspired him to lead the boys in a group project for their civic engagement badge that involved observing and counting tobacco advertisements at local stores. After visiting several stores, Katzman and the scouts wrote letters to Senator Patty Ritchie and Assemblyman Will Barclay about what they found and how tobacco hurts their community.
In nominating Katzman for Community Champion, Abby Jenkins said that "Brian is part of the solution to Oswego County's tobacco epidemic. He is a great example of how the community can raise awareness and give the youth a voice to do something about the issues we see in this county."
Recognizing Oswego County focuses on the positive things that are being done in the community. The vision of Recognizing Oswego County is "Working together, sharing our expertise, experience and resources, to focus on community awareness for healthier and more positive communities in Oswego County." Group members include representatives from a broad range of community organizations as well as individual community members.
Each month, the group selects a theme. Guest speakers are invited to attend monthly meetings to share the good work they are doing and nominations are solicited for Community Champions.
For the month of November, Recognizing Oswego County is soliciting nominations of exceptional individuals or organizations working to improve the community in the area of family role modeling/mentoring/peer support. To nominate a person or group for recognition for November, contact Brandon Morey at bmorey@oswegocounty.com. Nominations are due by Nov. 8.
To learn more about positive things that are happening in Oswego County, check out Recognizing Oswego County's Facebook page.
