Radon testing in schools, is a “no brainer.”
Radon testing in schools where children and essential workers spend long hours indoors, should not be postponed any longer and this testing is a “no brainer.”
 Radon gas is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers according to the EPA.  Lung cancer is the leading cause of all cancer deaths (1.56 million deaths).  Conclusion, radon gas causes death by the respiratory system and especially in compromised respiratory systems, just like the deadly COVID virus that attacks and kills through the respiratory system.
Radon testing is not expensive and the mitigation of this harmful gas is not complicated.  Due to the deadly COVID-19 respiratory disease, our US lawmakers just passed the greatest funding ever for school health and safety.  There is $170 billion in funding to help get children back in the classrooms safely and the time for radon testing needs to be done with the urgency of now.
In fact, some PA Senators reintroduced a bill in February 2021, for radon protection and to make radon testing mandatory-(Remediation Act., 2021 Bill Text PA S.B. 205, Introduced February 10, 2021).  However, this type of legislative bill has failed in the past and during this pandemic, there is no time to waste waiting on a handful of senators to pass legislation.  Science has already proven that radon is a leading cause of lung cancer and harmful to our respiratory system, just like the deadly COVID virus.
School boards and school administrators need to use some of the huge health and safety funding on radon testing, radon mitigation and healthier ventilation systems, if necessary. Failing to do radon testing (at a minimum) and your schools will be failing everyone’s collective health and safety protection.
 If there is anyone who agrees with this commentary or denies this science on the harmful effects of radon, please voice your concerns here or to your school, with the urgency this issue deserves.  Also, any school’s silence on this issue is equivalent to noncompliance with the mission and purpose of our tax funded schools.
Thank you for your consideration,
Dennis Smiddle – Executive Director of FANS 4 HELP (a new 2020 nonprofit with no financial interests in radon testing or mitigation).

Dear FANS 4 HELP,
Thank you for staying safe, strong, smart and scientific.  We are what we do and FANS 4 HELP can empower you, with our 2021 Calendars.  Like the vaccines, our 2021 calendars are in production and will be available for everyone who wants one to help empower anyone, especially the children.
We are a Health & Safety Expert and we listen to the best experts for the best practices in helping to fight the spread of this deadly COVID-19 virus.  While the vaccines will hopefully protect a large percentage of the people, we will still need to follow the CDC guidelines to help protect all of the people, all of the time. Please listen to the experts - https://youtu.be/vOClXAg9nQU Therefore, we created the FANS 4 HELP Calendars to remind everyone of the important health and safety guidelines. Also, we can help everyone with reminders of the Lord's Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and more, if you wish to bring this and more into your life or the lives of others, especially the children.  Our colorful and convenient calendars have both function and form. They can be carried in a notebook or posted on a wall in a home, office, school, child care or dorm.  Feel free to bring more patriotism or religion anywhere you please, but please do something privately or publicly with a donation or obligation to our nation. Plus,
you can do some good, do no harm and it can be a tax deductible donation.
Thank you for your consideration.  Stay Safe, Strong, Smart, Scientific and Stay in Touch with FANS 4 HELP - Please follow the experts and our posts.

​Keep on voting with your dollars and your time. So far, over 148 million people voted in the U.S. 2020 presidential election. So regardless of who you voted for, you were a part of the highest voting turnout since 1968, according to the Associated Press.
So, what does voting with your dollar mean?  Spending and investing your money is a powerful way of voting each day to support local communities, fair wages, and a healthy planet. Where you shop and what you buy sends a direct message to help business owners.

• Another powerful action is keeping your money in your wallet and not buying what you don’t need. Every dollar you don't spend, is a dollar you can put in a community bank or credit union, where your dollars will be used to finance jobs, housing and social services that every community needs.  Or, it can be donated to a charity that is taking action on climate change and other existential crisis. Also, the money you use to buy necessities, treat yourself, or spend on gifts for others is a vote cast for your values. 

Here are some more tips:

•  Every time you buy at a local business, you tell the world your community is worth more than a big-box store sale. 
• Every time you buy organic, you tell the world you want more farmers to grow healthy, safe food. 
• Every time you buy certified fair trade, you fight poverty. 
• Every time you buy from a business owned by women or people of color, you help build an inclusive economy. 
• Every time you don’t buy something, you tell the world you don’t need more stuff to have a good life.

Now, how can you vote with your time? You can better your community and your life by volunteering for causes you care about. It’s been proven that helping others is good not only for the recipients of your help, but for enhancing your own well-being, too.  Here you go:

• If you love animals, get vetted to help at a local shelter or help with pet adoptions.
• To help our environment, plant a garden, compost, share plants or seeds, help keep parks and playgrounds clean, use less concrete and more natural landscape designs.
• Help fight hunger and homelessness by donating used clothing and non-perishable food or volunteering at a local food bank or organization for helping others.
• To help education, donate books and unused school supplies, volunteer for adult education programs or join a PTA to have your voice heard at school board meetings or on school committees.
• HELP the elderly by signing up with an organization and getting clearances to help run errands, make deliveries or help run events.

Whatever you do, just keep voting by doing what you can to help.  Spend your money and time, so it helps you and  others with better health, environments, learning, play and safety. Sustainability needs to be sustained and we can’t solve the same problems with the same energy or thinking that caused the problems.
Dennis Smiddle – Executive Director of FANS 4 HELP ( a new 2020 nonprofit).

FANS 4 HELP Crowdfunding with ioby - 
ioby.org/project/fans-4-help-all-about-fitness-arts-nature-and-science-health-environment-learning-and-play  Thank you for your consideration and please share.

FANS 4 HELP - can help provide attractive, functional and cost saving modular building products to help protect people in schools, child cares, offices, public places and play spaces where we live, work, eat, learn and play. Plus, in 16 different colors and translucent to show out your school spirit and to call out for community unity.-www.everblocksystems.com/?fbclid=IwAR2zoImu-xSuopfP_24WOspSdVMSCQh6dgELl0rr9p7tsrLUDNQPpr5Nyjc

Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum morifolium)Florist’s chrysanthemums or “mums” are ranked the highest for air purification. They’re shown to eliminate common toxins as well as ammonia.
Treat yourself to a fresh pot, as this flower only blooms for about six weeks. Or you can fertilize the pot again in the spring when new growth appears. But without the flowers, it won’t be purifying the air. If you don’t want to wait, you might want to just get a new pot.
Plant care: Check the soil’s moisture every other day, and keep it damp.
Toxic to animals: Even though it has a friendly name, mums are toxic to both cats and dogs.
Eliminates: formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, ammonia
 

  -https://www.pccd.pa.gov/schoolsafety/Documents/School%20Safety%20and%20Security%20Assessment%20Criteria%20-%20adopted%20Sept%2026%202018.pdf?fbclid=IwAR382-zgzch8js-GaSbaDlKaSrJWbdHP92IUyTHi5WAOJoFhAV-m7mSJ_44

​Nonprofit to rethink playground space - Published in the Observer-Reporter by Katie Anderson  Jul 31, 2020 Updated Aug 10, 2020 

Dennis Smiddle, owner of a playground maintenance company, Fans of Play, recently started a nonprofit called Fans 4 Help. The nonprofit, which advocates for more natural and open playground spaces, will seek grants to fund the design and installation of those types of playgrounds in school districts and community parks.
“One of the best ways for children to learn is through play,” Smiddle said. “There’s a mindset that play is all about playground equipment, but that’s structured play – it can only really do what it was designed to do. There’s a lot more to play than swinging, sliding and climbing.”
According to Smiddle, a retired state inspector of child care facilities and playgrounds, children need access to playtime in more natural environments, “where kids can get outside in open spaces and make up their own games and use their imagination.”
Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, more open spaces on playgrounds make more sense, Smiddle said. He said traditional playgrounds with slides and swings and climbing areas are difficult to maintain and keep sanitized.
“Every playground has a capacity,” he said. “It’s very difficult to social distance on a playground.”
The nonprofit will offer design services, consultations and playground products that meet the mission of his company, like raised-bed gardens, sandboxes and balance beams. In the name of the nonprofit, “Fans” stands for fitness, art, nature and science, while “Help” stands for health, environment, learning and play, Smiddle said.
“It’s more of an empowering concept,” he said. “People can design their own playgrounds, where you don’t have to rely on these big playground companies.”
Smiddle said school districts and municipalities typically purchase playground equipment through catalogs because “it’s easy,” and because people don’t realize other options are available. However, he said the concepts he uses are safer for children, more cost effective and they “reduce liability.”
“I’m hoping to get funding and build awareness so that communities can start to change the playground mindset to a more natural concept to help protect children and provide more beneficial playground opportunities for learning and play,” he said.