Hamilton Area YMCA Director of Staff Development and NJ YMCA State Alliance Healthy U Specialist, Dan Sczweck with CEO and founder of Get Focused Goldin Martinez. Get Focused is a new partner in promoting children’s physical health and literacy. Goldin recently visited Kuser Elementary School during our Healthy U Recess Program. Submitted Photo.

Over 100 Healthy U champions and partners from YMCAs and schools from all over the state gathered at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on May 18 to celebrate 10 years of community impact. Healthy U was also formally presented with the 2017 CATCH® Award for Excellence in State Health.

CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) is the nationally-recognized curriculum used in the program. This award recognizes the partnership between the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey and the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance and its 36 member associations for Healthy U’s efforts to promote nutrition education and increased physical activity in schools and YMCA childcare settings, advocating for policies that support healthy environments, and convening partners across the state to create a positive collective health impact. Because of the many initiatives made possible by Healthy U, New Jersey kids and families report that they are eating more fruits and vegetables, and consuming fewer processed and sugary foods. They are spending more time being physically active and less time in front of screens.

Attendees also participated in physical activity workshops such as: “Get Focused: Empowering Youth to Read and Exercise Fitness and Literacy Boot Camp” with Golden Martinez and “Yogapalooza: How to immediately incorporate yoga & mindfulness with music, beloved activities, tips, tools and creative relaxation” with Bari Koral and participation games with CATCH and QB54.

Leaders from CATCH Global Foundation present Healthy U with the 2017 CATCH® Award for Excellence in State Health at the Healthy U 2018 Spring Symposium. Pictured L-R: Sue Cornell, Healthy U Director NJ YMCA State Alliance; Darrin Anderson, Executive Director NJ YMCA State Alliance; Jonathan Pearson, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Executive Director of The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; Duncan Van Dusen, Founding Executive Director of CATCH Global Foundation; George Carmel, President of Flaghouse Inc.; and David Carcieri, President and CEO, Somerset County YMCA and New Jersey YMCA State Alliance President. Submitted Photo.

The program launched in 2008 as a collaboration between The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey and the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance with the goal of promoting healthy behavior and preventing childhood obesity through more physical activity, family involvement and nutrition education. “Over 76,000 children and their families have experience Healthy U over the past 10 years at 480 YMCA early learning and afterschool sites and 70 schools across the state,” says Sue Cornell, Healthy U Director NJ YMCA State Alliance, “that’s a collective impact that would fill the stands of this stadium.”

“It is critical to engage parents to get them more involved with their children to learn about good nutrition and the importance of daily exercise,” said Jonathan R. Pearson, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Executive Director of The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey. “Childhood obesity can and must be overcome and with the support of more than 100 leaders coming together, it is our collective commitment and vast network of health advocates that will help us reach this attainable goal.”

Since Healthy U’s inception in 2008, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey has invested more than $4.7 million to sustain the program through 2019. For more information on this program contact your local Y or Sue Cornell, Healthy U Director, NJ YMCA State Alliance at sue.cornell@ymca.net or visit www.njymca.org.  Follow on social media at @YHealthyU.

The Hamilton Area YMCA is a leader in promoting Healthy U to our community; from our pre-school instruction, to BASE participation, to our Kuser Recess Program, to our new Healthy U partnership with the Hamilton Township School District.

To learn more about our Y’s Healthy U impact, please view the Healthy U Effect at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2BDifDRFG8
For further information contact Dan Sczweck at dsczweck@hamiltonymca.org.

The Y is the nation’s leading nonprofit committed to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.