Outreach National Chemistry Week to highlight a healthy future

The impact of chemistry on nutrition, hygiene, and medicine will be explored as part of this year’s National Chemistry Week (NCW) celebration to be held Oct. 16–22 at events nationwide.

More than 10,000 volunteers are expected to participate in the weeklong celebration, the largest outreach event of the American Chemical Society. NCW unites ACS’s 187 local sections with businesses, schools, and individuals around the country to communicate the importance of chemistry to everyday life.

This year’s theme of “Chemistry—Our Health, Our Future!” will be on display through activities at elementary schools, museums, shopping malls, and other venues. The ACS Committee on Community Activities (CCA) coordinates NCW with the help of the ACS Office of Volunteer Support.

“One of the goals of ACS is to help people understand the positive side of chemistry, and this is one of the best ways to do it,” says Lynn M. Hogue, chair of CCA.

To help with the celebrations, ChemMatters, ACS’s magazine for high school students, and the Journal of Chemical Education are featuring NCW in their October issues. And the ACS Office of Public Affairs is promoting NCW through its Chemistry Ambassadors outreach program and other activities. For more information, visit www.acs.org/ncw.