Healthy RC Program Partners with KidSmart Initiative to Launch Healthy Kids Project

February 25, 2009

The City of Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho Cucamonga, California - In an effort to promote healthy lifestyles for kids, the City of Rancho Cucamonga Healthy RC Program is proud to partner with the Inland Empire United Way KidSmart initiative to announce the launch of the Healthy Kids Mini-Grants program.

Healthy Kids Mini-Grants are small grants, awarded for the creation and implementation of health, fitness, or nutrition programs that benefit low-income children and their families in their own neighborhoods. Mini-grant programs are matched with local schools and nonprofit programs serving disadvantaged children.

The Northtown Community Center in Rancho Cucamonga, one of the program partners, will host the first Healthy Kids project in March 2009. Other program partners include corporate partner Target Corporation, advisor San Bernardino County Department of Public Health/Healthy Communities Program, the City of Rancho Cucamonga/Healthy RC, as well as funder and program manager Inland Empire United Way KidSmart.

Grant recipient Inland Empire Youth Ballet will provide a 3-week session of ballet master classes to children who reside in the Northtown neighborhood of Rancho Cucamonga. San Bernardino County Department of Public Health/Healthy Communities Program will incorporate nutrition education into the curriculum. The project will culminate in a special performance for the participants’ family and friends.

The program dates are as follows: Mondays, March 2nd, 9th and 16th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and a special performance on Saturday, March 28th from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Carolyn Villerreal, Operations Group Leader at Target’s Los Angeles Distribution Center shared, “Target is thrilled to be a part of this important program. This particular project not only gets kids excited about fitness, it also exposes them to the arts.”

Angelica Baltazar, Program Coordinator with San Bernardino County’s Healthy Communities Program is encouraged by this new community partnership. She says that, “in our County, less than 25% of children meet the standards for being physically fit and more than one third are considered overweight. Our goal is to encourage children and their families to get active and healthy through fun, accessible fitness and nutrition activities.”

For additional information on the Healthy Kids Mini-Grants program, contact Lorraine Ousley at (909) 980-2857, extension 203, or visit www.ieuwkidsmart.org.

For More Information – For additional information on the City of Rancho Cucamonga Healthy RC Program, please contact Erika Lewis-Huntley at (909) 477-2700, extension 2008, email HealthyRC@cityofrc.us, or visit www.HealthyRC.info.

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