NATIONAL FARM SAFETY & HEALTH WEEK BEGINS

In the fall of 1986, 11-year-old Keith Algreen suffocated in a gravity flow wagon of shelled corn on his family's Iowa farm. After her son's unforeseen death, Marilyn Adams, Keith's mother, and her family began a campaign to promote awareness by distributing danger decals for gravity flow wagons through local FFA chapters. In the process, she discovered that an alarmingly high number of children are injured and killed on farms each year.

Algreen initiated Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4JK) in 1987, just one year after her son's death, in an effort to spare others the heartache of losing a child in a preventable farm accident.

Farm Safety & Health Week is a national campaign sponsored by the National Safety Council. This week highlights the efforts taking place that promote safety and health on farms and ranches in the United States.

As the world market for agricultural products expands at a rapid pace, the role of the farmer expands rapidly and the need for farm safety increases daily. New ways of growing crops and an accelerated pace for farmers and ranchers increases the potential for increases in farm injuries and fatalities. FS4JK educates children and farm families of the dangers that are present on farms and stands by a mission statement that is simply to prevent farm-related childhood injuries, health risks and fatalities.

The 1998 FS4JK package is entitled "Paws" 4 Farm Safety. The curriculum recognizes hazards associated with animals and identified dangers such as feeding, handling, transporting, riding and other health-related issues.

For more information on farm safety activities, to become a member of FS4JK or to purchase the "Paws" 4 Farm Safety package, contact Farm Safety 4 Just Kids' headquarters office at (800) 423-KIDS.