BrightGuard – Welcome to Georgia

BrightGuard – Welcome to Georgia

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BrightGuard – Welcome to Georgia

Johns Creek Parks to Offer Free Sunscreen to Prevent Skin Cancer

“We were thrilled at the opportunity to continue offering free sun protection to the public and look forward to this partnership.”

In the first anti-skin cancer initiative of its kind in Georgia, the Johns Creek Recreation and Parks Division is teaming up with Melanoma Foundation of New England and Make Big Change to place sunscreen dispensers at the City’s parks.


“Melanoma is one of the most common forms of cancer and one of the easiest to prevent,”
 said Kirk Franz, Johns Creek Recreation manager. “People with kids in various programs often spend an entire day at the park, and they and the kids can end up with severe sunburns. Providing free sunscreen at a nominal cost is another way we can help promote the public health and welfare.”

Deb Girard, Executive Director of Melanoma Foundation of New England, said she was pleased the program was reaching into the Southeast. The Foundation recently initiated a similar program with the City of Boston.

“Due to the success of our Boston sunscreen initiative we were approached about expanding the program to John’s Creek,” she said. “We were thrilled at the opportunity to continue offering free sun protection to the public and look forward to this partnership.” 

Under the program, the Melanoma Foundation of New England will install five dispensers and provide four bags of free SPF 30 sunscreen, safe for people aged 6 months or older. After that, the City will pay for replenishing the sunscreen, estimated to cost about $500 a year. The dispensers hold a 1 liter bag of sunscreen. Each bag contains 1000 applications. Applications are free.

The dispensers are currently installed at Newtown, Ocee, and Shakerag parks.

The program came to Johns Creek as the result of a happenstance meeting when City Council member Steve Broadbent met Paul Gourley, a board member of Melanoma Foundation of New England, on an airplane flight from Miami to Atlanta. Later, Gourley called Broadbent about the program, and Broadbent arranged for him and City staff to talk.

The Melanoma Foundation of New England program was started in Boston this year. Johns Creek is the first city in Georgia to adopt it. The Melanoma Foundation of New England is a national organization.

Surgeon General Boris D. Lushniak in 2014 issued a Call to Action, asking governments, health care officials, private organizations, families and individuals to treat skin cancer as a major health concern. The number of melanoma cases is increasing at a greater rate than nearly all other cancers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates about 5 million people will be treated for melanoma this year, and 9,000 people will die from it.

According to its website, the Melanoma Foundation of New England, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to promoting prevention and early detection of melanoma. Make Big Change is a non-profit organization wholly dedicated to reducing the incidence of skin cancers through educational awareness and strategic prevention initiatives.

The facts about Melanoma:

Melanoma is a deadly, yet highly preventable form of skin cancer. This year alone over 10,000 people in the United States will die from melanoma – that’s one person every 50 minutes. Melanoma is the second-most common cancer in teens and young adults 15-29, and the most common cancer in men over the age of 50. The incidence of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, is rising faster than that of any other cancer and is a relatively easy disease to prevent: Most melanomas are easy to stop if caught soon enough — all it takes is a yearly skin exam.

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BrightGuard Arrives in Cape Cod

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BrightGuard Arrives in Cape Cod

Health: Chatham And Harwich To Receive New Sunscreen Dispensers

“These dispensers act as a reminder to use sunscreen. One day, we hope they will be as commonplace as hand sanitizer”

First, the bad news. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is being diagnosed at a rate faster than any other cancer, and one person dies from the disease every 50 minutes. Of all the counties in Massachusetts, Barnstable County has the second highest number of melanoma diagnoses.

The good news is that, with daily sunscreen protection, melanoma is largely preventable. And thanks to a grant through the Melanoma Foundation of New England, free sunscreen dispensers will soon be installed at some of the area’s most popular beaches.

“Skin cancers are definitely on the rise, and out here on the Cape, people come out, it’s a vacation, and they don’t realize the intensity of the sun they’re exposed to,” Barnstable County Public Health Nurse Deirdre Arvidson said. Arvidson applied for a grant from the Melanoma Foundation and won 16 of the dispensers for Cape towns.

Two dispensers are going to Harwich, and Health Director Paula Champagne said they will be put up shortly at Red River Beach. Each dispenser holds around 2,700 pumps of sunscreen.

“It’s kind of a cool thing,” she said. While the dispenser comes filled with sunscreen lotion, the town will continue to seek grant funding to keep it filled, Champagne said.

In Chatham, town officials are still deciding where best to place the two dispensers. One will be placed at the first lot at Harding’s Beach, Parks and Recreation Director Dan Tobin said, and the second will either be installed at the second lot at Harding’s or at Ridgevale Beach.

“It’s good for folks who run out of sunscreen or forget it at home,” Tobin said. “Certainly sun safety is something we want to be proactive about.”

Additional dispensers will be installed at beaches in Orleans and Brewster.

It’s not enough to merely put on sunscreen before a day at the beach, Arvidson said.

“People often forget that sunscreen has to be reapplied every two hours in order to stay effective, because the rays degrade the sunscreen,” she said. On the beach, those rays aren’t just coming from above, but also in reflected form from the surface of the water and even from the sand.

Funds for the dispensers come through the Melanoma Foundation, which received a $25,000 gift from the Arbella Insurance Foundation for this purpose through its “Practice Safe Skin” program.

“We love the idea of placing sunscreen dispensers in public areas,” Arbella President Beverly Tangvik wrote in a news release. “We’re proud to help support the fight against skin cancer.”

Aside from the obvious benefit of providing people with sunscreen, the dispensers serve another important purpose, Melanoma Foundation Executive Director Deb Girard wrote.

“These dispensers act as a reminder to use sunscreen. One day, we hope they will be as commonplace as hand sanitizer,” she wrote.

The sunscreen in the dispensers is an all-natural blend of zinc and titanium, providing protection at SPF-30. The product is designed to be safe for use on adults and youngsters as young as six months of age.

Businesses and non-profit organizations can purchase dispensers by visiting www.MFNE.org/Practice-Safe-Skin.

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Teen Gets BrightGuard Dispensers Installed Around Portland Texas

Teen Gets BrightGuard Dispensers Installed Around Portland Texas

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Teen Gets BrightGuard Dispensers Installed Around Portland Texas

BrightGuard – Bigger and Better in Texas

PORTLAND, TX – Sunscreen is a must during the summer months, and thanks to a clever high school student, access to sunscreen got a whole lot easier in Portland. Dispensers are being installed at outdoor spaces around the city.

People at the community center’s pool now have a little more protection from the hot summer sun thanks to one of the dispensers located there.

“In the beginning of the summer I didn’t wear this sunscreen because it wasn’t there. But as soon as they started to put it in I noticed I’m not getting sunburns,” said swimmer Dylan James Owens.

The dispensers of free sunscreen are the brainchild of Portland High School senior Ethan Zuriel Garza.

“I hope it’s useful for when they’re in a rush, and hopefully it also gets them aware of how many hours that they’re spending out in the sun,” Zuriel Garza said.

His proposal was one of three selected to get funding from Cheniere. Now eight dispensers are being installed around Portland. There are two at the community center and another at Sunset Lake Park. Three more will go in public spaces, and two will be installed at the high school.

“The most important part for me is to see him being independent, and being worried and preoccupied not only for himself and his family, but the whole community,” said Maria Garza, Zuriel Garza’s mother.

The cause is extremely important to the 17-year-old.

“I remember talking to our local physician and he told me if you were to stay in Portland your whole life, you would be guaranteed to have some form of skin cancer,” Zuriel Garza said.

Lifeguards at the community center say the dispensers are leading to more people lathering up.

“You get to the pool with your food, water, your kids, towels, and you realize you forget your sunscreen,” said Portland mom Michelle Miller. “It’s so nice to just walk in, not have to worry about it, get your sunscreen.”

With the sunscreen dispensers already a hit in Portland, Zuriel Garza hopes his project will take off even more.

” I would like to definitely see it go into Corpus, and hopefully further,” he said.

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Copyright © 2023 BrightGuard Inc. All rights reserved.
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BrightGuard Goes Back to High School

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Back to Happenings

BrightGuard Goes Back to High School

Cranston High School Receives BrightGuard Dispenser From Impact Melanoma

In recognition of May being Melanoma Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, Impact Melanoma (formerly the Melanoma Foundation of New England) is providing 190 free dispensers at 54 locations – including Cranston High School East.

“We are thrilled to expand on our highly successful pilot program in Boston and offer sunscreen units for public and private distribution throughout the country,” said Deb Girard, Impact Melanomas executive director.

The dispensers are tied directly to the MFNE program called “Practice Safe Skin,” which promotes using sunscreen as an effective protective measure to avoid sun overexposure.

Chris D’Ambrosio, vice principal at East has a very close and personal connection to the issue.

“My daughter, Rachel, was diagnosed with melanoma in situ when she was 11 years old. She is going to turn 20 next month, and is in perfect health, due to early detection and working with the MFNE. Rachel actually is a speaker for the foundation,” he said.

D’Ambrosio wants to teach students to know what constitutes a “sun-safe lifestyle.” He actually requested a dispenser for every school in the district, but was awarded two.

“I kept the one here for East and gave the other to Park View,” he said.

The dispenser at East was installed May 16, and is placed by the gymnasium doors for students to take an application before heading out for physical education. The sunscreen has an SPF of 30, which is safe for everyone from six months and up, and it is made of all-natural ingredients. Each machine costs around $400 and was equipped with four bags of suncreen. Each bag has 1000 applications’ worth.

East has participated in several programs and in-services with the MFNE.

“We have a facial scanner that we use at these workshops and in our health classes,” D’Ambrosio said. “It is not a cancer diagnosis machine, but it shows the damage to the skin from the sun. Students who have used the scanner take the ‘skin is in’ pledge to start using appropriate sunscreen and safe sun precautions.”

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