Rotary meets new Director of Public Health

At their April 15 online meeting, the Tehachapi Rotary Club hosted Brynn Carrigan, Kern County's new Director of Public Health. Carrigan, who is replacing prior director Matt Constantine, had been Assistant Director of Public Health since 2012 and was responsible for managing departmental programs and services. During the COVID-19 pandemic Carrigan served as KCHD Incident Commander for the department's Operations Center. She is from Bakersfield and graduated from Cal State Bakersfield with a degree in Business Administration.

It was Carrigan who was instrumental in the development of the innovative community-based program Waste Hunger Not Food. The program diverts wasted commercial food from local landfills to be used to address hunger in Kern County. The program currently serves Bakersfield and Taft and is expected to be expanded to Tehachapi. So far over a million pounds of food have been rescued. Carrigan has also been associated with other community programs like Certified Healthy and Know Your Numbers.

Speaking toward Kern County's COVID-19 status, Carrigan said that the County's daily cases are decreasing. To go into the yellow tier there needs to be less than 2 cases per 100,000 residents and currently there are only three counties in California that are under three. Carrigan added that as of April 14 380,970 Kern County residents have been vaccinated and 49 percent of those were 65 and over.

The Rotary Club of Tehachapi is a volunteer service organization with the motto "Service Above Self." The club has 30 members and are currently meeting virtually on Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. If you would like more information about Rotary Club, you can visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubofTehachapi/ or contact club President Chris Naftel (661) 221-2137.