Healthy Shasta announced the five selected Action Heroes for 2010 at Healthy Shasta’s annual Walk This Way at Turtle Bay event. The Action Heroes were selected to be honored for their efforts in making healthy eating and physical activity choices easier for others. The Action Heroes are:
Organization: Girls on the Run provides a character building program centered around running for girls 8-12 years of age. Started locally by Joanne Crosetti in 2007, Girls on the Run has expanded to serve nine local school sites and 150 girls last session (they offer two sessions a year). Volunteer coaches challenge girls to be the best they can be while empowering them to make positive, healthy choices and to accept themselves for who they are.
Individual Volunteer: Pat Bates is a parent volunteer at Bella Vista School who is ‘growing’ the school’s gardening program to provide a living laboratory for students to learn about science, nutrition, agriculture, problem solving and more. As a result, students participate in hands-on learning by growing and learning about healthy foods, getting introduced to new tastes, and even providing fresh produce for the school salad bar.
Individual Adult: Bridgette Brick-Wells is raising the bar on what school food can be by making nutritious, whole (unprocessed and unrefined) food a priority rather than the processed, pre-packaged foods often served at school. The Healthy Lunch and Lifestyle Project is now entering its third year and is serving over 1,000 Shasta County students at seven schools using reusable containers to reduce waste. Bridgette is also collaborating with others to expand healthy meals to students in Butte County, establish a community kitchen in Redding, and advocate for local agriculture and healthy school foods.
Organization: Redding Recreation (City of Redding) recently adopted a policy to always provide healthy options for food and beverages at city events, vending machines, and concession stands – such as at the Riverwalk Grill at the Aquatics Center. These healthy options are priced similarly to other items on the menu and marked so customers can easily find them. In addition to traditional recreation programming, Redding Recreation created a Wellness Challenge and Play at the Park Tour this year.
Collaboration: Bill Kuntz fosters collaboration between local organizations and individuals to expand local trail systems and recreational opportunities. Recent efforts include completion of a loop of trails around Keswick Reservoir, making it possible to travel by trail from Redding’s Sacramento River Trail to Shasta Dam and back on the other side of the river. Collaboration is not limited to building 45 miles of trails in 4 years, but also to encouraging people to get outdoors through events such as Horsetown Clear Creek Preserve’s series of interpretive hikes with local experts and Redding Mountain Bike club’s Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.
Learn more about each Action Hero, including tips for making a difference, at www.healthyshasta.org. Self-standing banners featuring the Action Heroes are available for display at public locations and community events by calling 229-8243.
Healthy Shasta is a partnership committed to making healthy eating and physical activity choices easier where you live, work and play. Visit www.healthyshasta.org for more information.
-from Healthy Shasta press release
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