Meet Tracy Kavanaugh from Lawrenceville, GA

Tracy Kavanaugh is from Lawrenceville, Georgia and works as an epidemiologist at the Gwinnett, Newton, & Rockdale County Health Departments, specializing in viral hepatitis. She has asked for $3,000 to purchase "Baby's First Year" calendars for mothers infected with the Hepatitis B Virus for a program she designed called "Save the Date - Save a Life." Her program would help mothers keep track of when their child is due for critical Hepatitis B vaccinations and blood work. The 1,000 calendars Tracy is buying will be given to Hepatitis B infected mothers after they deliver their child, and will have stickers placed on the months indicating when their child is due for Hepatitis B vaccines. Tracy explained, "It is critical that infants receive the Hepatitis B vaccines on time to help prevent infection. At least 90% of children exposed to Hepatitis B will become chronically infected with Hepatitis B infection unless an intervention such as vaccination is done. Chronic Hepatitis B puts these children at high risk for developing liver cancer and premature death. I feel like this would show these women that we genuinely care about the health of them and their child. It might save a child's life!"

Diary Starts Here

June 23rd, 2011

Tracy sent us another update...

"The perinatal Hepatitis B stickers arrived today. They are very nice! A jade footprint was selected as the artwork. Jade is the designated color for Hepatitis B Awareness. The footprint represents the steps taken to help prevent Hepatitis B infection. The stickers will be placed in each calendar to indicate when Hepatitis B vaccines or Hepatitis B testing is due. This will help busy mothers remember these important dates. I wanted to thank the Jenny Jones Foundation once again for believing in and supporting this project. This project would not be possible without your donation of the calendars and the stickers. I am grateful and I’m sure the families that receive these calendars will be very appreciative as well. Thanks again for helping with the fight against Hepatitis B and helping to protect these precious children. Tracy"

June 15th, 2011

Tracy placed an order today for the printed stickers that go on the Baby's First Year Calendars. She also emailed us some photos...

May 27, 2011

Tracy sent us a quick update...

"I received my calendar order this week. I have 9 big boxes sitting in my office. The calendars turned out great! Our logo looks very nice as well. I will send you some pictures later in the week. I have started working on the sticker order. I hope to have something to you next week so the order can be placed. Thanks so much for your help! Tracy"

May 10, 2011

Tracy officially placed her order today for the 1,000 Baby's First Year Calendars. Apparently, they'll take about 8 to 10 business days to print, 3 to 5 days to ship, so she should receive them around the 27th of this month.

April 28, 2011

I surprised Tracy with the news of her grant by calling in to a special meeting that was set up by the Director of Epidemiology, Alana Sulka, who assembled the staff of the Epidemiology unit so everyone could share in the good news. We first contacted Tracy’s supervisor, Lisa Jackson, who thanked me for my help, saying that it serves a great purpose. She said their funding has been cut and by providing these calendars, they will be able to protect not just the women, but also the babies for life, preventing long-term diseases such as cancer.

When Tracy walked in to the meeting, I was already on the speakerphone and I could hear the staff applaud for her. I asked why it was difficult for the moms to get these vaccines and she explained that some have limited resources while others may have language barriers. Everyone was appreciative and Alana was so gracious and thanked me for the grant, saying they have the highest perinatal caseload in the state and this would really help the department. Tracy said the calendars will be a wonderful tool for new mothers to keep track of important vaccines and lab testing dates. After the call, they all celebrated with cupcakes.

Tracy has been married to her husband, Fred, for 5 years and they have a 2-year old daughter, Mary Kate. Their other two “children” are a rat terrier named Teegan and Buddy the cat!