{"id":68936,"date":"2016-05-23T19:49:56","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T23:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=68936"},"modified":"2016-05-23T16:57:45","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T20:57:45","slug":"todays-options-champions-competition-kicks-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=68936","title":{"rendered":"Today’s Options Champions competition kicks off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image001\"<\/a>Help Honor Someone Making a Difference in the Lives of\u00a0Older Adults in Central New York<\/i><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Options\u00ae<\/sup>, a local Medicare Advantage health plan, is asking the community to identify individuals who are helping to better the lives of older Americans in Central New York. Now throughJune 20<\/span>, Today\u2019s Options is asking local residents to visit www.TodaysOptionsChampions.com<\/a> and nominate a Champion.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Options Champions are your neighbors, your friends, your colleagues, your parents. They are Central New York residents who are an example of how one person can make a difference in the lives of older adults.<\/p>\n

Five finalists will be recognized as Today\u2019s Options Champions during a Syracuse Chiefs pre-game ceremony August 4, 2016<\/span>. They will also participate in an online competition where baseball fans, the community, and friends and family can vote for the individual story worthy of earning the grand prize.<\/p>\n

The 2016 Today\u2019s Options Grand Champion will be recognized at the New York State Fair and presented with a $10,000 donation to their chosen charitable organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to bring the Today\u2019s Options Champions competition to the community once again this year,\u201d said James Mackenzie, SVP of Sales for Today\u2019s Options. \u201cThe competition opens our eyes to the amazing work of individuals and not-for-profit organizations that are making an impact on the lives of older adults in Central New York. We want to find these Champions and recognize their important contributions to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s recipient of the $10,000 grant was North Area Meals on Wheels. Bob Graves, a volunteer and president of the North Area Meals on Wheels board, was the 2015 Today\u2019s Options Grand Champion. Additionally, four worthy individuals were Today\u2019s Options Champion finalists in the 2015 competition: Jen Coman, Mike Gasapo, Hume Laidman, and Lennie Tucker.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing named the Today\u2019s Options Grand Champion was a mountaintop experience,\u201d says Bob Graves. \u201cAs a nonprofit serving the senior population, North Area Meals on Wheels is always financially challenged to keep the cost of our services as affordable as possible. The $10,000 grant was put directly towards our cost of goods so we can continue to provide nutritious meals to our seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Options created Today\u2019s Options Champions to complement its strong commitment to making a difference in the communities where its employees live and work. The Competition honors individuals who embrace older adults in helping them live a healthier and happier life, while also sharing Today\u2019s Options\u2019 goals of improving quality of life and maximizing access to services for seniors and people with Medicare.<\/p>\n

The Competition is open to the general public living in one of the following counties: Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, and Tompkins.<\/p>\n

For more information, Today\u2019s Options Champions official rules and submission information, visit the website atwww.TodaysOptionsChampions.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Help Honor Someone Making a Difference in the Lives of\u00a0Older Adults in Central New York Today\u2019s Options\u00ae, a local Medicare Advantage health plan, is asking the community to identify individuals who are helping to better the lives of older Americans in Central New York. Now throughJune 20, Today\u2019s Options is asking local residents to visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22341,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}