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South Valley Riverton Journal

Lisa Carter awarded Riverton volunteer of the year

Jul 03, 2019 02:24PM ● By Clinton Haws

Lisa Carter recognized as volunteer of the year at Knight of Heroes (Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce)

By Clinton Haws | [email protected]

Lisa Carter did not ask for recognition nor expect it: She was nominated by the founder of the Healthy Riverton committee for her dedication and diligence to creating a healthier community. 

Carter has been leading the Healthy Riverton committee, a 15-member group of volunteers, for approximately two and a half years. Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce awarded her with their volunteer of the year award at the event Knight of Heroes.

“What I do is on a volunteer basis, so I don’t expect to be rewarded or recognized for it,” Carter said. “I received the intrinsic rewards of course, so I was humbled in receiving this award.” 

Healthy Riverton is resident-led. Their focus is on suicide prevention and training, but it also hosts two events every year. One is Spring into Family Fitness, and the other is Fall into Family Fitness. 

“They basically are one-hour workouts at the Riverton Main City Park.” Carter said. 

This year, it was held April 29, and attendees had to tackle some inclement weather. They still showed up in spirit and partnered with Anytime Fitness for fitness, yoga, refreshments and prizes. There were local fitness, health services, good living and healthy eating vendors as well. There were representatives from the city library, a dental office, a local soccer league and a karate studio providing info, tips and swag to the attendees.

“We try to make it a family fitness fair along with doing the workouts offered by fitness and yoga instructors,” Carter said. “The weather was a bit disheartening this year and hindered our attendance this year.” 

This was the group’s third event of this kind and second Spring into Family fitness event for the committee. It hopes it continues to garner attention from local businesses and residents. The next Fall into Family Fitness event is Monday, Sept. 24 from 7 to 8 p.m. It will be held at Riverton main city park and held at the main pavilion.

“Healthy Riverton’s mission is promoting healthy lives by improving overall mental and physical wellness of our citizens,” Carter said.

The other area of focus for Carter and Healthy Riverton is suicide prevention training and outreach. They cover other cities and partner with organizations to provide this throughout the valley. For Riverton, QPR training classes are held every third Thursday of the month from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the UFA Fire Station #124, 12262 South 1300 West in Riverton. QPR stands for “Question, Persuade and Refer.” The previous leader of Healthy Riverton committee, Tricia Tingey, is now a city councilwoman and it is a resident-led volunteer committee.

“She stepped back from leading the committee because she is a politician, and nobody will listen to a politician in that role,” Carter said.

Tingey asked Carter to take the reins and lead the committee when she was elected into Riverton’s city council. Carter has assumed the role and Healthy Riverton has established a message of suicide prevention throughout the valley and not just in Riverton.

The committee and Carter continue to work with local entities to help with drug take-back services and also providing gun locks for firearm owners as well as creating awareness for QPR and suicide prevention.

“We set up a partnership in the last year with Peterson’s grocery store in Riverton to take back old prescription drugs,” Carter said. “That’s a part of the whole mental and physical wellness mission statement is getting those lethal means out of the house. It is called a drug take-back box, and we partnered with Intermountain Health, Riverton City and Peterson’s pharmacy to have one placed in their store.

The group has placed drug take-back boxes throughout Riverton. There is one at the hospital and other local pharmacies. The committee has a list of all the available places and a flier available to anyone that wants one.

Statistics have shown a significant rise in suicides nationally and at the local levels as well. This has given the group the mission of providing awareness. Lethal prescriptions are commonly used as a method of suicide attempts (and specific to females). The No. 1 method used and much more effective is the use of firearms. It is often the method that males choose to use more often than females. Healthy Riverton committee provides gun locks free of charge for any individual that wants one. It can deter the use of firearms for anyone that is thinking of hurting themselves.

“We provide gun locks at all the events that we participate in and at all the classes that we teach—any of the QPR classes that we teach,” said Carter.