March 12, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 15 Resident takes fracking program to board of health Anita Touloughian will bring her “Spring Roadshow” about fracking to the Wyckoff Board of Health on Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. The session will be held in the west wing conference room at Wyckoff Memo- rial Town Hall, 340 Franklin Avenue in Wyckoff. Touloughian, a Wyckoff resident, is a graduate student at Montclair State Uni- versity. She received a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Connecticut in May 2012, and is due to receive a master’s in public health with a focus on community health education this May. She recently completed an intern- ship with the Northwest Bergen Regional Health Commission, where she teamed up with mentor Gail Brunner. Together, the two launched REF: Reinforcing Educa- tion on Fracking, a pursuit Brunner under- takes as a private citizen and a New Jersey licensed health inspector. “The goal of the program is to inform the general public on the concerns for the health and environmental impacts of frack- ing through an interactive presentation,” Touloughian explained. “Our Spring Road- show has been a great success so far. We have delivered the presentation to high school level classes, boards of health, envi- ronmental commissions, and (recently) to a crowd of over 50 participants at the NJEHA 2014 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Atlantic City. “We have so many more presentations scheduled for more organizations, includ- ing classes at Ramapo College and Mont- clair State University, and of course coming up this week, Wyckoff -- my hometown’s -- Board of Health. We hope to give the com- munity this information so that they may make informed decisions with regard to potential policy, economics, and health pro- grams affecting them and their families.” Through pre- and post-program sur- veys, Touloughian and Brunner have found that about 80 percent of the participants are unaware of New Jersey’s current policy on Evening of Appreciation set The Trustees of the Wyckoff Love Fund invite the public and recent donors to an Evening of Appreciation on Thursday, March 20. The event will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Room at Saint Elizabeth’s Church at 700 Wyckoff Avenue. The evening will include refresh- ments, entertainment, and information about the local charity presented by Rev. David Bach, Pat Khanjian, and Rabbi Ken- neth Emert. RSVP to Jan Meyer at (201) 424-0228 or janmeyer@verizon.net by March 15. The non-profit Wyckoff Love Fund dis- tributes funds to Wyckoff families who have children in need of help. fracking. “Since the expiration of a one-year temporary and conditional moratorium in January 2013, there has been no policy to prohibit it from occurring in New Jersey,” Touloughian added. “Ideally, we hope that towns that we present to will follow in other towns’ footsteps, such as Paramus, New Jersey, and pass resolutions to prohibit this controversial method of gas extraction, which has the potential to have tremendous health and environmental impacts. We also hope that the freeholders will ban fracking in Bergen County as it has already been done in Middlesex County.” Touloughian has spent the last 20 years in Wyckoff with her parents and younger brother. This family enjoys the outdoors. Touloughian said the Ramapo Reservation was her “back yard,” and she has explored every corner of its mountains, lakes, rivers, and streams. “My family also loves to travel. Every year, we try to go somewhere new, and every time we go, we always hike, kayak, snorkel, dune buggy. . .You name it! In a way, my parents always taught my brother and me that the environment was our home. I like to think that there is a reason we call it Mother Nature. It cares for us, nourishes us, and really without it we could not exist the way that we do. Sometimes I feel that we push the limit when it comes to something that is so vital to our existence and then we wonder why it has such a great impact on our health, economy, food, and water qual- ity. This was one of the reasons Gail and I started REF.” For additional information, visit // refnj2014@wordpress.com and follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ refnj2014.