Greene County Public Health received a grant to provide sunblock to the public for free.

Director Becky Wolf says they created a Greene County Sun Safety Awareness Project to apply for a grant with the Iowa Cancer Consortium.

Public Health received three, one-gallon jugs of SPF 30 sunscreen. Wolf notes that they will place the jugs around the county were lots of people gather. She adds that they plan to provide educational sessions about sun exposure and have mini sunscreen packets available as well. She explains the importance of using sunscreen, especially in rural communities like Greene County.

“We don’t really think about that the sun is a bad thing. It’s good to get a little vitamin D from the sun. But having a tan, whether it be from the sun, or from a tanning bed, or getting a sunburn, those are dangers for you. It causes premature wrinkling and aging of your skin. The biggest things that we are trying to prevent is the melanoma, which is a deadly form of skin cancer.”

For more information about ways to protect yourself from skin exposure to the sun, contact Public Health at 386-3228.