by Larry EderI liked this release, and believe it is something that you will appreciate too. Saucony, one of the top performance running brands, puts their money where their mouths or feet are. Like many of the brands who support our sport, Saucony’s Run for Good Foundation is trying to do something important, getting people to move.
We need help like this nationally and locally. Get your kids out for a nice walk in the woods, turn off the computer, phone, and get them outside to run, walk, jump, skateboard, bike, do something outside. The key is movement.
Saucony Run For Goodsm Foundation Announces
New Round of Grant Winners
In support of the first “National
Childhood Obesity Awareness Month,” brand awards $50,000 in grants to
five worthy organizations that are committed to promoting greater
physical activity
among children
LEXINGTON,
MA (September 29, 2011) —
The
Saucony Run for Good Foundation,
established to help combat childhood obesity by providing financial
support to community-based youth running or athletic programs, has
announced its twelfth round
of grant winners in conjunction with the first “National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month” proclaimed by President Obama
this September. The five grants include: Youth Enrichment Services of Boston, MA; Annapolis Recreation & Parks of Annapolis, MD; 100 Mile Club of
Corona, CA; Bay Area Track Club of Oakland, CA; and Genesee Intermediate School District of Flint, MI.
“At
Saucony, our brand mission continues to be inspiring others to run. Our
Run For Good Foundation is an extension of that mission,
hoping to instill the passion for running within the country’s youth,”
said Richie Woodworth, president of the Saucony Run For Good Foundation
Board of Directors and Saucony, Inc. “Given the issues facing our nation
with childhood obesity, it’s vital that
everyone does their part in increasing awareness and education. We’re
inspired that the government continues to support this issue as well,”
added Woodworth.
There
is growing concern that Americans have for the health of today’s
children. A recent poll on childhood obesity conducted by Greenberg
Quinlan Rosner Research and American Viewpoint shows that 80 percent of
Americans recognize that childhood obesity is a significant and growing
challenge for the country, and 50 percent of Americans believe
childhood obesity is such an important issue that
we need to invest more to prevent it immediately.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), childhood obesity has more than tripled over the past
30 years. One of five children age six to 11 is now being considered
obese. Stemming from these startling facts, President Obama recently
marked September 2011 as the first “National Childhood
Obesity Awareness Month”, as a push to get children more physically
active.
Since the
Run For Good
Foundation
launched in 2006, it has invested nearly $750,000 in grants to 85
organizations nationwide−all dedicated to preventing childhood obesity
through running and an
active lifestyle.
The
recipients of the latest round of grant winners range from life skills
and outdoor adventure programs to a school, recreation
and parks department and track club, which all center around not only
keeping children active, but teaching ways to live a healthy lifestyle.
The following five organizations have been selected to receive a Saucony Run For Good Foundation grant:
Youth Enrichment Services (YES),
Boston,
MA
Founded by Richard
Williams with the mission to take kids out of their neighborhood and
show them that they can achieve anything, even something that thought
was reserved for
more fortunate people. YES started skiing with kids in 1968, added
hiking and canoeing in 1976, snowboarding in 1997, and track and field
in 2009. Through this grant, YES aims to expand its new track and
field/cross-country program by increasing overall participation
by 25% in 3 seasons (spring, summer, and fall) as well as putting
together a “YES Racing Team”.
www.yeskids.org
Annapolis Recreation & Parks (ARPD),
Annapolis,
MD
ARPD was established in the mid-1960s to provide adequate leisure time and recreation opportunities to the residents of
Annapolis and today, it remains dedicated to
enhancing the health and quality of life for all residents by providing
a variety of programs and activities that encourage physical and social
health.
In 2007, it launched the Annapolis Mighty Milers that invites children
grades three to five to participate in a fitness and running program.
This grant will be used to increase participation capacity. www.annapolis.gov
100 Mile Club,
Corona,
CA
Inspired by the 1992
Summer Olympics, special education teacher Kara Lubin used the
universal dream of becoming a gold medalist to inspire her students –
challenging each one
to run or walk 100 miles at school during one school year and earn a
gold medal.
The 100 Mile Club
mission also believes this challenge will lead to new levels of
achievement in all areas for participants: academics, athletics, and
implementation of the valuable
life skills identified in the bricks of Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of
Success. The grant will allow 100 Mile Club to reach 1,000 new
students.
www.100mileclub.com
Bay Area Track Club (BATC),
Oakland,
CA
The goal of BATC is
to develop and support world-class runners and promote healthy and fit
living in the Bay Area. Within its organization is the BATC Kids program
designed
to work with children from Kindergarten to 5th grade, as an
after-school program. With athletes and guest speakers, the BATC Kids
program will teach the importance of health, fitness, and nutrition
through activities and demonstrations with running
and other track-related events. The BATC Kids program will use the
grant to continue complementing a simple running program with a variety
of activities that emphasize a broader scope of health and fitness.
www.bayareatrackclub.com
Genesee
Intermediate School District (GISD),
Flint, MI
As a premier
regional service agency, GISD provides leadership that links learners to
public schools, the community, the private sector, and public agencies
in order to improve
education and enhance lifelong learning for all citizens. Serving more
than 83,000 students, GISD will be using the grant to establish the
Running Club Rocks initiative – a running regime to promote healthy
lifestyles by incorporating running and walking activities
with national facts and group activities.
www.geneseeisd.org
For
grant applications and more information on how the Saucony Run For Good
Foundation can help local youth communities nationwide,
visit www.sauconyrunforgood.com.
About Saucony, Inc.:
Saucony,
Inc., a subsidiary of Collective Brands, Inc., is a leading global
running lifestyle brand that fuses performance, innovation
and style to create compelling footwear and apparel with its widely
recognized brands Saucony and Saucony Originals. Founded in 1898,
Saucony continues to inspire runners everywhere with its award winning
innovations, including PowerGridâ„¢, ProGridâ„¢ and ViZiPROâ„¢
apparel, among others. For more information, go to www.saucony.com.
Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS)
is a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance
brands for footwear and related accessories to consumers worldwide. The
company operates three strategic units covering a powerful brand
portfolio, as well as multiple price points and selling
channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and licensing.
Collective Brands, Inc. includes Payless ShoeSource, focused on
democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories through its
nearly 4,500-store retail chain, with its brands Airwalk®,
Dexter® and Champion® and designer collections by fashion designers
Christian Siriano, Lela Rose, Isabel Toledo and Silvia Tcherassi;
Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group, focused on lifestyle
and performance branded footwear and high-quality children’s
footwear sold primarily through wholesaling, with its brands including
Stride Rite®, Keds®, Sperry Top-Sider® Robeez®, and Saucony®, among
others; and Collective Licensing International, the brand development,
management and global licensing unit, with such
youth lifestyle brands as Airwalk®, Above The Rim®, Vision Street
Wear®, STRIKEFORCE™, Clinch Gear™, Sims®, Lamar® and LTD®, World
Snowboarding Championships™ and Hind®. Information about, and links for
shopping on, each of the Collective Brand’s units can
be found at www.collectivebrands.com.
