The Kiwanis Club of Lafayette is pleased to announce that the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has awarded a the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette Foundation a grant of $1 million to address the growing problem of childhood obesity.  Adding in the cash and in-kind match to the grant, our program is slated to get $2.5 million from the Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana. We are grateful to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation for making healthy living options in our region and across the state a reality. Together, we’re reducing obesity, which is a significant risk factor for serious health conditions.

Although the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette Foundation is the grant applicant (being a 501(c)3 organization), the real story is the breadth of community partners that all came together under the leadership of Dr. Joan Landry and Darlene Breaux of the Cecil J. Picard Center for Childhood Education and Lifelong Learning to assemble a multi-pronged approach to tackling this serious problem over the next three years.

The Healthy Living Club (the name of our program) takes a multi-pronged approach to help adults, families and children exercise more, eat well and learn about healthy lifestyles:

  1. Adding new playground facilities, such as walking trails and workout stations
  2. Offering seed-to-table classes, which stress the interconnected relationships between planting seeds in a local garden to serving meals
  3. Establishing two community teaching gardens
  4. Offering after school wellness education programs for children
  5. Offering breast-feeding education classes
  6. Forming Health Ministry Teams, which will use a faith-based approach to fitness

Healthy Living Club is a collaboration among multiple organizations, including:

  1. Kiwanis Club of Lafayette Foundation
  2. University of Louisiana at Lafayette ( The Cecil J. Picard Center for Childhood Education and Lifelong Learning, Department of Anthropology, Department of Kinesiology, Department of Dietetics, and the Office of Research, College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions)
  3. Lafayette Consolidated Government (Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Department of Traffic and Transportation)
  4. Junior League of Lafayette
  5. Focused Fitness, Inc.
  6. 13 Communications
  7. 2nd Harvest
  8. Acadiana Food Circle
  9. American Heart Association
  10. Lafayette Parish School System
  11. Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center
  12. Creole Fitness
  13. Acadiana Breast Feeding Coalition
  14. Family Tree
  15. Acadiana Open Channel
  16. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana
  17. Boys and Girls Club
  18. Bridge Ministries of Acadiana
  19. Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation
  20. Iberia Comprehensive Community Health Center
  21. Southern University
  22. Kaboom!
  23. Lafayette Parish School System
  24. Acadiana Housing Authority
  25. Creole Fitness Productions
  26. Second Harvest

We are looking forward to working on this project with all of the organizations mentioned above to make a difference over the next 3 years.  Kiwanis – changing the world one child and one community at a time!  Thanks so much to everyone who worked so hard putting together such a great project.