FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 7, 2006
CONTACT: Joyce Faria Brennan
Media Relations
Southcoast Health System
Phone: 508-961-5270
Fax: 508-961-5876
Pgr: 508-387-9605
brennanj@southcoast.org
www.southcoast.org/news/releases/
Southcoast Hospitals’ RAPPP program accepting nominations for
“Heart of Fatherhood” essay contest
Winners join New England Patriots player Tedy Bruschi at awards dinner being held this fall
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Southcoast Hospitals’ RAPPP (Responsible Attitudes toward
Pregnancy, Parenting & Prevention) program is accepting nominations from children age 7 to 18 in
the South Coast region for the second annual “Heart of Fatherhood Award.”
Finalists will join New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, the 2006 honorary “Heart
of Fatherhood” award recipient, at an awards dinner being held this fall.
“We would like children of the South Coast to tell us why your dad, step-dad or father-like
role model is so special and what makes him so important to you,” said Cindy Guilbeault, Program
Director of Southcoast Hospitals’ RAPPP program.
The objective of this award is to honor and recognize fathers who go “above and beyond” the
call of duty everyday in the communities that make up South Coast.
The contest is open to children who live in the South Coast region ages 7 through 18 years
old. Entries should be submitted in writing (type-written preferred) to Southcoast RAPPP Program,
Dartmouth Place, Pequot Building, Suite 105, 49 State Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747. Entries
must be postmarked by June 19. Winners will be announced in mid July.
Nominations will be accepted in the following formats per age group:


Age 7 to 11: Draw a picture, cartoon and/or a little story.
Ages 12 to 18: Write an essay. Minimum of 150 words and maximum of 250 words.
“Nominators are asked to describe to the Awards Committee why their nominee should be chosen
for the ‘Heart of Fatherhood Award’ by writing an essay explaining what makes their father special.
Nominated ‘fathers’ can be any age and do not need to be biological or legal fathers. However they
must have a parental or mentoring relationship. Nominees must be law-abiding and upstanding
individuals,” Guilbeult said.
–more-
Heart of the Father Award
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June 7, 2006
For complete rules and more information call 508-994-0548 or visit the website
www.southcoast.org/rappp/.
About Southcoast Hospitals’ RAPPP Program
The Southcoast Hospitals’ RAPPP (Responsible Attitudes toward Pregnancy, Parenting &
Prevention) program addresses the high incidence of youth risk behaviors in Southeastern
Massachusetts. RAPPP began as an adolescent pregnancy prevention program designed to be used
within the curriculum of the health or science department of high and junior high school systems. The
Family Education Department at St. Luke’s Hospital develops, sponsors and administers the RAPPP
program in conjunction with school faculty and administration. All materials, models, staff support
and training are free of charge to the participating schools as part of the Southcoast Hospitals Group
community benefits program. Southcoast’s Community Benefits Report can be found online at
www.southcoast.org/news/benefits/.
The Southcoast Hospitals’ RAPPP program also impacts adolescents, parents, young adults
and professionals in the community through a number of outreach training programs and conferences.
In November 2004 the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Family and
Community Health, awarded the RAPPP program this substantial funding as part of the state’s
“Science-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention in Select Communities” initiative. The grant, valued at
$542,500, will run through 2012 with a maximum of $52,500 for fiscal year 2005 and $70,000 each
subsequent year.
About Southcoast Hospitals
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based
health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health
services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast
Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St.
Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham. For more information visit
www.southcoast.org.
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