Get money, get kids off the couch

BY NANCY KELLY

Kings County Register



The Western Kings County Active Kids Healthy Kids fund is looking for organizations that want to help promote improved health and activity levels of youth living between Cambridge and Wilmot.

The fund, a partnership of The Valley Active Kids Healthy Kids Committee and the provincial department of Health Promotion and Protection, in conjunction with the Western Kings and Kingston/ Greenwood Community Health Boards, Western Kings Memorial Health Society, Berwick and Kings County recreation departments and the Village of Kingston; strives to help the community address innovative ways to encourage youth and their families to lead physically active lifestyles.

WKM Health Society Manager Hartt MacKinley says, since it was established, the fund has supported innovative, non-traditional and creative physical activity initiatives. Each year since 2004, between $10,000 and $12,000 has been distributed in Western Kings County.

“Some of the groups who benefited from the fund include Berwick Junior Curling, Berwick Amateur Boxing, Greenwood Community Centre, Woodville Community Centre, as well as afterschool programs and Cub and Brownie troops,� points out MacKinley.

“Some of the projects have been big, some little - but all got kids off the couch.�

He adds some programs, like the one run by the Somerset Home and School Association, promote nutritious eating as a key component of a a healthy lifestyle. A program running in Harmony gets families active and also incorporates a leadership component.

“It’s all about establishing some habits and skills that these kids can take with them into adulthood - ones that will keep them and their community on the road to good health,� says MacKinley.

Each application is evaluated with a numerical scoring system and must meet established criteria that demonstrates a group’s ability to provide, monitor and report physical activity opportunities and leadership development.

“In the first year, we had more money than applications, and the opposite the next year. In 2006, we were able to fund all applications. In the year ahead, it will all depend on the number of applications we receive.�

Mike Trinacty, who works with the Department of Health Protection and Promotion, says the department’s original three-year commitment to the project has run out, but he expects a follow-up will come.

“The department recognizes the money has been well spent, because the organizations that have received funding make these dollars go a long way.�

He says the next phase of the program will likely be based on the total Active Kids Healthy Kids budget, how that funding is allocated between other provincial initiatives and the establishment of regional priorities.

Applications are available at the Town of Berwick and Village of Kingston offices, or by contacting the community health board offices in Berwick and Kingston. Deadline is Feb. 16.