The Healthy Living Club held its kickoff event at Clark Field today. The Healthy Living Club is made up of some two dozen organizations that have been doing great work in our community for years. Our Foundation is one of the partners in this great effort.
Inspired by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation’s “Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana” grant program, we have all combined our resources to work together to address one specific problem – the ever-increasing rise of childhood obesity.
With $1M of funding from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, and $1.5M of cash and in-kind matching donations from our partners, the Healthy Living Club is a $2.5M, three-year project focused on improving our community’s health.
We have three specific things that the Healthy Living Club will be doing:
- Providing more access and more opportunities to be physically active,
- Providing wellness education and creating lifelong skill sets, and
- Providing more access to healthy foods.
“P – double M – D”, as we call it, will be the main Healthy Living Club message:
- Portion control
- Move around and exercise
- More fruits and vegetables
- Drink water
It’s not that people don’t know ways to live a healthier lifestyle; it’s just that all the pieces may not be in place for our community as a whole to get there. Our goal at the Healthy Living Club is to create a sustainable coalition and framework that can continue to work together from this point forward so that everyone has the tools and resources they need to be well.
For the media coverage of this event as well as our HLC community garden groundbreaking last week, check out the links below:
HLC Community Garden groundbreaking – Morning Advocate – a picture is worth a thousand words, and if these don’t spark a call to serve children, I don’t know what would!
HLC Kickoff Event – Morning Advocate – great pics of Emily Neustrom and Mike LeBlanc of the Seed to Table group, and the HLC ladies exercising.
