Elgin YMCA gets $10,000 grant
The Greater Elgin Area YMCA is one of 24 YMCAs nationwide selected to receive a $10,000 "Kellogg's Opportunity To Play Grant" from Kellogg's Corporate Citizenship Fund, the charitable arm of Kellogg company. The grants were established to provide underserved youths with more opportunities to be physically active.
The award is part of a $250,000 gift to the YMCA of the USA from the fund. It will help YMCAs, in communities where Kellogg Co. facilities are located, to offer physical activity opportunities above and beyond what is currently available.
These additional opportunities will target underserved youths as defined by each individual YMCA.
At the Taylor Family Branch YMCA, the funding will be used to support the "YMCA 5-minute Fitness Challenge." This program is designed to help children and families add five minutes per day of simple exercises that can be done in the classroom and at home. Each week, children will be introduced to a new exercise that they will do for five minutes each day.
Children will then take that exercise home and introduce it to the rest of the family. Activity will be tracked weekly, and incentive programs will be established for total activity time. The goal is to get children and families moving with simple exercises that can be done anywhere, anytime without taking too much time out of their day.
"As a national partner of Activate America, Kellogg Co. is a strong and valued supporter of the YMCA's long-term efforts to help individuals and families lead healthier lives," said Rick Reigner, president and CEO of the Elgin YMCA. "We are delighted that Kellogg is expanding its support of health and well-being in local communities like Elgin so we can provide underserved youth more opportunities to get and stay physically active."
Activate America seeks to help children and adults of all ages in their pursuit of well-being in spirit, mind and body. In 2006, the fund awarded YMCA of the USA a $1 million grant to support Activate America and three of its signature components: Pioneering Healthier Communities, a program that engages key community stakeholders in developing strategies to reduce barriers and increase support of healthy living; Organizational Transformation, a process designed to improve the YMCA's support to individuals and families who seek a healthy lifestyle; and YMCA Healthy Kid's Day, an annual grass-roots community event that uses fun, engaging and creative activities to encourage children and families to embrace lifelong healthy habits.
The Greater Elgin Area YMCA is just completing its 125th year of continuous service to the community and serves thousands annually through a variety of programs and services for all members of the family. It was selected as one of 13 YMCAs in the country last year to participate in the Pioneering Healthier Communities initiative and is now one of 48 nationwide. For information, visit www.elginymca.com.