Monday, April 27, 2009
There are no chain grocery stores!
Oh my goodness! I drove around the "Westwood" Neighborhood for a few hours looking for sponsors in the community, and there are no chain stores within the area of those three schools. Like searching for a needle in a haystack. That's odd.
Over the weekend.
I have been going to a restaurant here in Lakewood for many years, the owner Tom knows my family really well. Conversely we know his family really well. His eldest daughter was a Bronco cheerleader. This is what gave me the idea to ask a celebrity to be at the event. I pursued the idea only to find out written notice must be sent to all athletes. I spoke with a deputy communications officer for Gov. Ritter to see if we could have him come out for us, and understandably so, Gov. Ritter is extremely busy, so we would have to ask about six to eight weeks in advance.
Hopefully, we will be able to create gift bags for the kids who are participating in the events on Wednesday and Thursday. I found BMI's for kids, a rare commodity! I met with a woman at a clinic, Rae, and she gave me paperwork for healthy snacks for kids, bmi's and gave me a ton of Healthy Living Packets with some goodies in them. She gave me about everything she had, which was very sweet! We still have a ton of water bottles from the Comcast project and Chantay will be bringing those so we can put them in the gift bags.
Tomorrow, hopefully we can get the donations we need from community participants that will help with sustainability in the long run. The idea is that we foster sustainability in a healthy walking program by offering incentives to the parents. If we send a child home with a $50 grocery card, then perhaps the parents will motivate the child or better yet become involved in motivating others. Jesse and I are working on getting donations for granola bars and other healthy foods. Currently Live Well Colorado slices apples and the kids LOVE it! However, Jesse and I think that by offering additional goodies, we keep it a surprise and unpredictable for the kids. Then there is always an incentive for the kids!
Hopefully, we will be able to create gift bags for the kids who are participating in the events on Wednesday and Thursday. I found BMI's for kids, a rare commodity! I met with a woman at a clinic, Rae, and she gave me paperwork for healthy snacks for kids, bmi's and gave me a ton of Healthy Living Packets with some goodies in them. She gave me about everything she had, which was very sweet! We still have a ton of water bottles from the Comcast project and Chantay will be bringing those so we can put them in the gift bags.
Tomorrow, hopefully we can get the donations we need from community participants that will help with sustainability in the long run. The idea is that we foster sustainability in a healthy walking program by offering incentives to the parents. If we send a child home with a $50 grocery card, then perhaps the parents will motivate the child or better yet become involved in motivating others. Jesse and I are working on getting donations for granola bars and other healthy foods. Currently Live Well Colorado slices apples and the kids LOVE it! However, Jesse and I think that by offering additional goodies, we keep it a surprise and unpredictable for the kids. Then there is always an incentive for the kids!
Monroe Elementary
On Monday, Felipe and I attended the parents meeting at Monroe Elementary, where we discussed an idea to implement a walking bus concept. Because the program has not been fully implemented we believed that the walking bus idea would be great, but the was that many parents live too far away to start such a program. The parents were not ready for this.
I also attempted to attend the Walking Wednedsay at Knapp Elementary and was informed by the secretary that the program was happening the next week. I was disappointed, but turns out that it really was happening. This made me realize that it was extremely important for us to create a sustainable program, because it is the people of Live Well Colorado and Kaiser Permanente who ultimately create and foster these programs. The teachers and employees of the school have so much to do as it is, that it really comes down to parent involvement and volunteers such as the Americorps volunteers Live Well Colorado has right now. However, the Americorps volunteers are around for the spring and Live Well Colorado does not have volunteers in the fall, in my opinion the most important time frame for creating sustainability.
Hopefully we will be able to help our sponsors with this! We have parents who want to be involved, kids who want to walk and Live Well Colorado/Kaiser Permanente really wanting to help the community and our state become more healhty. Aye caramba!
Es todo, ahorita, amigos!
I also attempted to attend the Walking Wednedsay at Knapp Elementary and was informed by the secretary that the program was happening the next week. I was disappointed, but turns out that it really was happening. This made me realize that it was extremely important for us to create a sustainable program, because it is the people of Live Well Colorado and Kaiser Permanente who ultimately create and foster these programs. The teachers and employees of the school have so much to do as it is, that it really comes down to parent involvement and volunteers such as the Americorps volunteers Live Well Colorado has right now. However, the Americorps volunteers are around for the spring and Live Well Colorado does not have volunteers in the fall, in my opinion the most important time frame for creating sustainability.
Hopefully we will be able to help our sponsors with this! We have parents who want to be involved, kids who want to walk and Live Well Colorado/Kaiser Permanente really wanting to help the community and our state become more healhty. Aye caramba!
Es todo, ahorita, amigos!
Project four
Finally Project four! We are working with Live Well Colorado and Kaiser Permanente in order to foster an implemented program called Walking Wednesday at Knapp and Monroe Elementary schools, and Trotting Thursday at Castro Elementary. The introduction to this project was totally AWESOME! We were in the VIP room of the Museum of Nature and Science. I love that place. I think I spent an entire year at that Museum. My favorite things include the T-Rex Bones in the entrance, the penny grubbing-growling sabertooth tiger, IMAX and the planetarium. I still remember all the constellations I learned from that planetarium. Clearly, the museum continues to be amazing growing opportunity for me. Project four has been all about this.
Growing happens in several ways and for this project we will be helping kids to grow up and not out. Obesity in the United States has grown exponentially within the last 50 years. Fifty years ago, many kids walked to school, however the growth of our urban areas and the availability of cars has caused an increase in obesity. Live Well Colorado and Kaiser Permanente are helping to implement a walking program for kids with the hopes that these healthy habits will become a part of their lives and consequently the life of a healthy adult. Live Well Colorado works with other green organizations to create community gardens to further establish healthy eating patterns.
Many of the kids in the "Westwood" area participate in government assisted food programs, are latino (perhaps higher fat food content) and or live in subsidized housing, therefore healthy eating may be lower on the list of priorities.
More to come soon.
Growing happens in several ways and for this project we will be helping kids to grow up and not out. Obesity in the United States has grown exponentially within the last 50 years. Fifty years ago, many kids walked to school, however the growth of our urban areas and the availability of cars has caused an increase in obesity. Live Well Colorado and Kaiser Permanente are helping to implement a walking program for kids with the hopes that these healthy habits will become a part of their lives and consequently the life of a healthy adult. Live Well Colorado works with other green organizations to create community gardens to further establish healthy eating patterns.
Many of the kids in the "Westwood" area participate in government assisted food programs, are latino (perhaps higher fat food content) and or live in subsidized housing, therefore healthy eating may be lower on the list of priorities.
More to come soon.
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