BE HEALTHY, BE FIT, BE GREAT AWARD
The Will Rogers Institute has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of America to provide and honor one Club with a $5,000 cash award that has shown exemplary methods of promoting healthy and active lifestyles. One gift will be awarded annually for the next five years (2008-2012) to support the Club’s Sports & Fitness area.
The 2009-2010 Be Healthy, Be Fit, Be Great Award was given to Boys & Girls Club of Benton County, Ark. (BGCBC). The Club’s wellness initiative aims to improve the nutrition, health, fitness and overall wellness of Club members, their families and Club staff.
Beyond having an outstanding Triple Play program, the organization has changed its entire culture. Jacob Hutson, chief professional officer, and Daniel Rodriguez, director of youth development, led the effort to promote healthy lifestyles throughout the entire organization. Daniel took the lead by changing his own unhealthy habits; prior to following the guidelines of the Triple Play program, he was overweight. However, Daniel realized he and staff needed to model healthy choices. He lost 60 pounds in seven months and it has changed his life. He now leads an active lifestyle running 5Ks, riding his mountain bike and learning more about nutrition.
To involve the entire organization, BGCBC implements a monthly “Healthy Decisions Contest” in which Clubs compete against each other to see who can make more healthy decisions in a month. Members are awarded a “Healthy Decision Coupon” for each healthy decision made inside and outside of the Club. At the end of the month, each Club counts its total earned coupons and the Club with the most is given a trophy to display. The trophy travels from Club to Club and it has given the youth and staff extra incentive to make healthy lifestyle choices.
Each unit also conducted a Healthy Habits Jeopardy-style competition that covers everything in the Healthy Habits curriculum. Categories included MyPyramid, Physical Activity, Eating 4 Energy and more. Participants were divided into two groups (boys versus girls) and Sports Club members facilitated the game. The winning team then chose how many push-ups the other team had to do, while they enjoyed real fruit popsicles.
Another way BGCBC has involved its members is by placing a “Guessing Jar” in the Gamesroom. A question is displayed beside the jar, such as: “How far would you have to run to burn off the calories in a Snickers candy bar?” The member that gets the answer correct takes home a prize and receives recognition during a Club-wide meeting. Additionally, nutrition facts are posted in the Gamesroom each week to keep kids thinking about eating healthy.
BGCBC enhanced its sports programming by hosting organization-wide tournaments held once a quarter. A Sports Club curriculum was developed, which provided topics to discuss and activities to implement for an entire year. Topics included teamwork, sportsmanship, attitude, education and leadership. Coordinators were provided content topics to discuss with Sports Club members.
The organization also combined its Healthy Habits programming with social outlets. It hosted a “Healthy Habits Watermelon Social;” Healthy Habits program participants headed outside to enjoy juicy watermelon with each other. This served as a great retention and outreach tool, as other Club members wanted to join the Healthy Habits program afterwards.
The organization has also taken steps to enhance its social recreation program by combining it with physical activity and nutrition awareness. To promote physical activity in the Gamesroom, chairs were removed and members are required to stand while waiting to play games and while playing games.
Families today are in need of more support and BGCBC is committed to helping. In an effort to help families within their community, BGCBC has created a food bank and thrift store voucher program in which families are given food and clothing vouchers to use at their local food bank and thrift store.
BGCBC’s focus is on making healthy and active living fun and enjoyable for members, parents and staff. For more information, visit www.bgcbentoncounty.org. |
