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John Drees Safe and Healthy Kids
Award Fund

This fund is to honor the remarkable legacy of John Drees for his unwavering dedication, compassion, and lifelong commitment to making our community safer and stronger.

John was a tireless advocate for safety and education. He was the coordinator for Safe Kids Douglas County, worked nationally with the Safe Kids Coalition, and produced a training video for the National Child Passenger Safety Certification Training Program in 2010. His dedication was recognized with the LMH Vision Award in 2000, and after 26 years of service, he retired as a Community Education Specialist.

Known for his humor and storytelling, John left a lasting impression on everyone he met. LiveWell Douglas County is proud to continue John’s advocacy, education, and outreach to improve community safety and prevent unintentional injuries.

LiveWell Douglas County
Coalition Endowment Fund

This fund provides organizational support for the LiveWell Douglas County. Our community coalition is dedicated to supporting programs and policies that improve the health for all Douglas County residents.

Established in 2008, LiveWell Douglas County is our community’s health coalition with work groups in the areas of Safe & Healthy Kids, Tobacco-Free Living, Healthy Built Environment, WorkWell, Sexual Violence Prevention, and Healthy Food for All.

Recent impacts include:

  • Partnership with the Lawrence Arts Center to fund a public artwork project that will recognize and honor the contributions of the Mexican American community of La Yarda, a housing unit created by the Santa Fe Railroad to house workers from 1920-51. The artwork will be installed in September 2025 on the Lawrence Loop in East Lawrence within a few blocks of where the La Yarda neighborhood once stood.

  • Implementing policies at 8 childcare center and 2 home-based childcare providers to support active play, limit screentime, add nutrition guidelines, improve breastfeeding support, and reduce exposure to 3rd hand smoke.

  • LiveWell Douglas County, LMH Health, Heartland Community Health Center, and Lawrence Parks and Recreation came together to offer a new physical activity prescription program - Move More Douglas County. This program will help patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes and other chronic conditions get connected with physical activity options in their community to improve their health.