There are a lot of things going on to help children, families, the disabled and seniors in Carbon County.

During the recent Carbon County Interagency and Family Collaborative Board, a number of agencies updated the board on happenings that will be taking place in the upcoming months and the people they are currently serving.• Julie Rovinski-Mann the Carbon County Link coordinator, announced that an emergency management seminar aimed to educate seniors and those with disabilities on various safety topics is being planned for the summer.• Timm Berger from state Rep. Doyle Heffley's office announced that the property tax rent rebate application opens at the end of February and the elderly or those with disabilities may qualify. He also noted that the annual Sportsman's Expo will take place on March 19 at the Penn Forest Fire Company No. 1 with a free hunter safety course in the morning, as well as a number of vendors; a boating safety course will take place at Beltzville State Park and Lake Harmony in April; a Veterans Expo will be held in the park in Lehighton on May 28; and the annual Senior Expo will be held in September this year.• MaryLou McGeehan of Blue Mountain Health System announced that a teen dating violence seminar with the Domestic Violence Service Center will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 at the Gnaden Huetten campus, Lehighton; and the annual Children's Health Fair is being scheduled for children kindergarten through second grade for April 8 at the Lehighton Recreation Center. For more information, visit

www.blmtn.org and go to "programs and events."• Blue Mountain Health System's Behavioral Health will restart the Alzheimer's Caregiver Support Group in March. The group will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month at the Palmerton Hospital.• There are two openings in the Family Promise program for families who are homeless. A three-on-three basketball tournament will also take place on Feb. 27 at Palmerton Area High School and will benefit the program. For more information, visit

http://familypromisecarboncounty.com.• Larissa Kimmel of the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health/Development Services, announced that there will be a Coalition for Disabled People information event set up in the MH/DS Lehighton office from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 12. The event will have vendors available with information on how families and individuals with disabilities can gain employment.• Commissioner Wayne Nothstein announced that the annual Safety Day will be held on May 7 at Mauch Chunk Lake Park. The event promotes families to learn about various safety topics.