Author Archives: Preventive Lifestyle Assistance Network

Bass Player Clint ‘Payback’ Sands Rallies Hip Hop Pioneers for Check Your Risk Campaign for Diabetes Awareness Month

NEW YORK, N.Y. /ScoopCloud/ -- Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, Coolio, Kid Frost and the Dogg Pound's Kurupt are just a few of the hip hop pioneer veterans who responded when bass player/ music producer Clint "Payback" Sands reached out to his friends, inviting them to sound the alarm and participate in the "Check Your Risk" (CYR) awareness campaign for National Diabetes Awareness and Prevention Month in November. The campaign, an initiative of Marci Kenon, founder of the New York-based Preventive Lifestyle Assistance Network (PLAN), alongside Alicia Hollins, founder of The Eight, a Riverside, CA based community service organization, was originally launched in November 2020, in an effort to break the chains that type 2 diabetes has on members of underserved communities.

CYR encourages prevention with a quick online survey. The free "Check Your Risk" assessment can be taken at https://www.checkyourrisk.org/survey.

Actor Keith Robinson ("Dreamgirls"), rappers Ms. Toi, Spice 1, and Dana Dane also a sampling of the many artists that joined the campaign effort and sent their video appeals. Participants DJ/producer Battlecat and lyricist Kokane shared stories of their struggles and triumphs in combatting this lifestyle disease plaguing Blacks and Latinos throughout the country. New York City mayoral candidate Eric Adams gave support to the 2020 inaugural launch by providing a webinar hosted by The Eight and PLAN, the organizations run by Hollins and Kenon, respectively.

"Thirty-four million people in the United States have diabetes," laments Clint "Payback" Sands, who has played bass on numerous rap albums for artists including Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg, noting recent stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) site. In his promotional video for the new CYR campaign, he further reveals, "One in five don't even know if they have it. I have type 2 diabetes. I was lucky. I only lost some toes. Hip-hop legend Biz Markie recently lost his life to complications related to type 2 diabetes. Knowing your risk can save your life."

The CYR video promotion seeks to encourage respondents to anonymously answer online eight questions devised by the CDC. They are then recommended to go for an annual exam that includes bloodwork and to take the results with them. They can also choose to be directed to online prevention programs and health challenges to assist them with proper nutrition, a variety of exercise programs, and the daily support and accountability they need to thrive.

"While working with the CDC's National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP), a couple of things became clear immediately," says Kenon, a Harlem-based certified lifestyle coach and fitness trainer who has personally stayed a step ahead of a 2012 prediabetes diagnosis. "People do not know they have prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Both are preventable and reversible through positive lifestyle changes in diet and exercise. I have been amazed by the health transformations of clients who have completed PLAN's DPP classes. But too few people know about these prevention programs and have access to them. We are trying to change that."

The Eight's Alicia Hollins, who recently shed over 100 pounds and has spent years serving the needs of marginalized families in California's Riverside county adds, "What people don't know about their personal risk can hurt them. We know the power of influencers to aid in our mission to eradicate diabetes. With the help of a growing number of celebrities and corporate leaders, we are looking to reach far more people in underserved communities this year. Perhaps, we'll even reach our one million goal!"

Take the Check Your Risk survey at https://www.checkyourrisk.org/.

Check out Clint "Payback" Sands and his celebrity friends at https://youtu.be/7lqs5lAHLbI and https://youtu.be/YqCPkBad_cQ.

For more information on PLAN and The Eight, go to https://www.joinplanglobal.com/ and https://www.theeight501c3.org/contact.

Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, Coolio, Kid Frost and the Dogg Pound's Kurupt are just a few of the hip hop pioneer veterans who responded when bass player / music producer Clint "Payback" Sands reached out to his friends, inviting them to sound the alarm and participate in the "Check Your Risk" awareness campaign, an initiative of Preventive Lifestyle Assistance Network (PLAN).

Related link: https://www.joinplanglobal.com/

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams Gets with the PLAN Joins Health/Fitness Coach Marci Kenon’s ‘Check Your Risk’ Diabetes Awareness Challenge

NEW YORK, N.Y. /ScoopCloud/ -- Eighty-eight million adult Americans are on the borderline of developing type 2 diabetes and the majority haven't a clue. Marci Kenon, founder of New York-based Preventive Lifestyle Assistance Network (PLAN) has joined in a collaborative effort with Francheasca Roberson, executive director of California-based nonprofit The Eight, Inc., to break the chains that type 2 diabetes has on members of underserved communities around the country. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams also joins as an ally in the effort.

With November being National Diabetes Prevention Month, their "Check Your Risk" (CYR) Awareness Challenge hopes to encourage one million Americans to answer the one-minute survey of eight questions to assess their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The survey can be found at https://www.checkyourrisk.org/survey.

With many not realizing that type 2 diabetes is not only preventable, but reversible with changes in lifestyle, especially nutrition and exercise, the team is poised to readily assist. Persons whose results indicate that they are at high risk will be invited to a free webinar to learn more about type 2 diabetes.

Kenon's organization, PLAN, focuses exclusively on providing the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP), a preventative agenda helmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to those in need. "With knowledge comes power," says Kenon, who was diagnosed with borderline diabetes in 2012 and attended a six-week diabetes prevention program. "I was stunned to hear my blood sugar was high. I had to practice what I preached to the clients I started to train as a fitness instructor the year I was diagnosed."

For Eric Adams, the Borough President of Brooklyn, NY, the endeavor is also personal. Adams was afflicted by type 2 diabetes at one time, even losing his vision. "There was almost a surrender to the disease until my vision loss," Adams recalls during an interview with the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine. "That was a wake-up call. If I am going to lose this war on my health, it is not going to be without a battle." Adams conducted research and changed to a whole food, plant-based diet, reversing the symptoms of the disease that nearly robbed him of his driving rights.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has highlighted the pervasiveness of obesity and type 2 diabetes among Black and Brown people around the country. The CDC has warned that type 2 diabetes increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black adults have a higher prevalence of obesity and are more likely to suffer worse outcomes from COVID-19. Racial and ethnic minority groups have historically not had broad opportunities for economic, physical, and emotional health, and these inequities have increased their risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19.

Kenon and Roberson grasp the enormity of the diabetes and obesity problem, and it motivates them to do their part to impact the health and wellness of those who need it most. "There are a lot of resources available to the people we serve but they don't know these resources exist," cites Roberson.

With no end in sight for COVID-19 and the increasing cases of diabetes, the CYR challenge will continue beyond National Diabetes Prevention Month. The team is looking forward to working with Adams whose compelling story gives hope and guidance to concrete ways to prevent and reverse this devastating disease.

In addition to Adams, CYR has early support from the adult ministries department of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant denomination known for its strong emphasis on the importance of living healthfully. Their focus on proper nutrition, exercise, rest, and meditation are all major components of their Eight Principles of Health and in alignment with PLAN's overall approach.

"We look forward to reaching one million Americans," Kenon shares confidently. "Then the goal will be increased to reaching 10 million people. With 88 million lives at stake though, we are only scratching the surface."

Take the "Check Your Risk" Awareness Challenge at: https://www.checkyourrisk.org/survey.

Follow the PLAN on Facebook at: PreventiveLifestyleAssistanceNetwork (https://www.facebook.com/PreventiveLifestyleAssistanceNetwork/ ), Instagram at @taketheoneminutesurvey (https://www.instagram.com/taketheoneminutesurvey/) and on Twitter at @PreventivePlan (https://twitter.com/PreventivePlan).

MEDIA CONTACT
Makeda Smith
Jazzmyne Public Relations
makeda@jazzmynepr.com
323-380-8819

Marci Kenon, founder of New York-based Preventive Lifestyle Assistance Network (PLAN) has joined in a collaborative effort with Francheasca Roberson, executive director of California-based nonprofit The Eight, Inc., to break the chains that type 2 diabetes has on members of underserved communities around the country. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams also joins as an ally in the effort.

Related link: https://www.joinplanglobal.com/

Health and Fitness Coach Marci Kenon Expands PLAN to Prevent Diabetes in New York’s Underserved Communities

HARLEM, N.Y. /ScoopCloud/ -- When the pandemic hit, certified lifestyle coach Marci Kenon was knee deep in serving her Harlem community, specifically targeting the marginalized and underserved sectors. As the founder of Preventive Lifestyle Assistance Network (PLAN), her agency, launched last year, focuses exclusively on providing the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP), a preventative agenda helmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

With COVID-19 targeting Black and Brown people who have co-morbidities like type 2 diabetes, reaching at risk people became even more crucial for Kenon. PLAN recently signed an agreement with Healthfirst, a leading Managed Care Organization (MCO), to deliver the NDPP on a broader scale. In addition, a series of online NDPP classes will be offered in both English and Spanish beginning Thursday, September 10, 2020. PLAN is a certified New York State Medicaid Provider.

According to the CDC, over 88 million American adults have prediabetes, yet eight in ten don't know they have it. Without taking action, many could develop type 2 diabetes within five years. NDPP is an evidence-based, year-long program conducted by lifestyle coaches who help people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes reverse the course.

PLAN offers a one-minute risk test on its website at https://www.joinplanglobal.com/ for anyone to check their status. Those at risk can register for a NDPP class.

The statistics on how Black and Hispanic New Yorkers disproportionately contract the coronavirus, suffer with severe symptoms and die at higher rates than whites, highlight the importance of prevention programs like the one Kenon has made the center of her Harlem-based company. PLAN originally launched its first in-person NDPP class at Ephesus SDA Church on Malcolm X Boulevard in the heart of Harlem.

"The coronavirus struck and disrupted that class," Kenon recalls, talking about the uncertainty of life in New York as COVID-19 hit New York with intense cruelty. "I really thought I would wake up and realize it was all a bad dream. Fortunately, we were able to transition from in-person to virtual because we were conducting an NDPP class online before the coronavirus descended."

Feeling a strong desire to help during the height of the pandemic, Kenon started volunteering at the NY Common Pantry, near her home in East Harlem. That is where she met Michael Montanez, a diligent, dedicated worker who is going to conduct PLAN's first Spanish-language classes.

"Marci's vision for our community's overall health is extremely expansive," expresses Montanez. "I'm excited to join PLAN with bi-lingual class offerings. The addition of Spanish classes is a critical step toward effecting awareness and change across our combined communities."

It was while pursuing a certification in personal fitness training that Kenon was told she was pre-diabetic during a routine medical exam. The doctor who sounded the alarm had lost her mother and grandmother, both double amputees, to complications related to type 2 diabetes.

Kenon created PLAN and became an official provider for NDPP. With New York State Medicaid now covering the full cost of the program, PLAN is positioned to more positively assist with impacting clients on an even grander scale. PLAN is one of a handful of companies that exclusively conducts this 22-module course.

"We start with weekly core classes that focus on making small lifestyle changes," Kenon explains. "We then transition into maintenance-mode with one class a month. We have a speaker series and a private Facebook page to nurture support. Our goals are losing weight, lowering blood sugar levels and increasing overall wellness. We are a small team and specialize in providing our clients with extra attention and care."

Kenon previously worked in the music industry for many years as a columnist/feature writer for Billboard magazine, interviewing celebrities that included Diana Ross, Jay Z and Jada Pinkett-Smith. She exited the music industry with the production of a documentary produced in 2004 in partnership with Image Entertainment, entitled "Higher Ground: Voices of Contemporary Gospel Music," featuring Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams.

With new partners, a new team member and a new pandemic-inspired attitude for change, Marci Kenon has a PLAN for better health for the community she serves!

Get the with the PLAN at https://www.joinplanglobal.com/.

Follow the PLAN on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PreventiveLifestyleAssistanceNetwork/, on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/coachmarcinyc/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PreventivePlan.

View the PLAN promo at (YouTube): https://youtu.be/bSt9YG1XMsg.

MEDIA ONLY CONTACT
Makeda Smith
Jazzmyne Public Relations
makeda@jazzmynepr.com
323-380-8819

When the pandemic hit, certified lifestyle coach Marci Kenon was knee deep in serving her Harlem community, specifically targeting the marginalized and underserved sectors. As the founder of Preventive Lifestyle Assistance Network (PLAN), her agency, launched last year, focuses exclusively on providing the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP).

Related link: https://www.joinplanglobal.com/