Recent Stories
October 20, 2012
Originally published in examiner.com Northgate Park was transformed into a haven for play Saturday, as volunteers from Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, Cooper’s Ferry Partnership and the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties came together with KaBOOM! to build a new playground in just one day. Over the years, the park on Elm Street in North Camden had become outdated, rundown and unsafe for families. More than 200 volunteers, most employees from Horizon participating in their “Day of Caring” event, improved the park by building and installing brightly-colored equipment, adding new picnic tables with game boards painted on top and planting new flowers. Read full story View Slideshow SHARE:
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October 20, 2012
Originally reported by Amy Buckman, Channel 6 Action News There’s a new place to play in Camden. and this one comes courtesy of some generous souls. SHARE:
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October 11, 2012
There’s an enormous amount of information available about health disparities among various socio-economic and ethnic populations. These disparities are impacted by a variety of issues such as income, education, geographic location and access to resources. Yet many who are working to improve conditions and create health equity for all individuals do not have access to the data they need – nor do they know how to leverage it to benefit the populations at risk. To that end, a special training workshop arranged with the help of the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids (NJPHK), was held October 10 at the YMCA of Newark and Vicinity entitled: “Data Makes a Difference: Practical Tips for Using Data to Address Health Disparities.” The goal was to help NJPHK community partners, their members, staff and volunteers, develop or expand their knowledge of how to identify, analyze, interpret and harness available data to improve their […]
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October 5, 2012
Passage of the USDA’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires schools across New Jersey and the country to “get an education,” so to speak, when it comes to incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables in school feeding programs – an idea which NJPHK whole-heartedly supports. To help schools meet the requirements and deadlines mandated by the new rule, the Partnership, along with Shaping NJ, sponsored an educational program called “Kitchen Essentials: Knife Skills and Healthy Recipes on October 5.” It was hosted by the NJ Farm to School Network for about 40 attendees at Hudson County Community College Culinary Arts Center in Jersey City. Many of the attendees came from schools in the five communities where the Partnership is active, and most were school food service directors. The course was taught by representatives from NuWay Concessionaires, the West New York Schools, and The Food Trust, which is the lead […]
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October 4, 2012
Originally published in preventobesity.net In urban settings such as Trenton, N.J., it can be tough for residents to find the ingredients they need to craft healthy meals. That’s why a group of young girls from the Trenton branch of the YMCA recently spent th afternoon showing fellow residents how to craft healthy and affordable dishes using ingredients found at their local bodega. The girls teamed up with Chef Dave Nuss from the Children’s Aid Society of New York to prepare dishes such as canned fruit smoothies, cheese quesadillas and corn and bean salad outside of the Monchy convenience store on Aug. 23. The group then offered Monchy customers and passersby the opportunity to try the snacks. “They used only ingredients that were found in Monchy. They had to be healthy,” says Marissa Davis, project manager for the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids-Trenton. “I think the folks really liked the corn bean […]
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October 3, 2012
Originally published in philly.com Seven South Jersey charter schools or districts were among 64 high-poverty districts statewide where less than 31 percent of eligible students receive subsidized school breakfasts, according a report being released today in Newark. On the plus side, the Woodlynne Borough school district and Camden’s Promise Charter School were two of 13 schools were on that list last year but worked their way off this year. Woodlynne went from 28 percent of the eligible students getting breakfast to 34 percent. Camden’s Promise rose from 24 percent to 38 percent. The findings are contained in a report issued by Advocates for Children of New Jersey, a nonprofit children research and action organization. It is the group’s second annual school breakfast report. Read full story SHARE:
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October 2, 2012
Originally published in NewarkPatch Dr. Nwando Anyaoku, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey in Newark, knows of a patient who weighs 425 pounds and suffers from a litany of obesity-related problems: she’s had hip and knee replacements, is diabetic, has high blood pressure. She’s also just 13 years old. While an extreme case, Anyaoku notes that this young girl is hardly alone amongst her peers: an estimated 45 percent of the city’s youth are overweight or obese. She’s become accustomed to treating children for what in decades past were usually afflictions of the middle-aged or older, like hypertension. Anyaoku was at Nat Turner Park last week for a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of the “Born Learning Trail,” a slice of the park dedicated to combatting this worrisome trend by getting kids into the exercise habit early. Read full story… SHARE:
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October 2, 2012
Originally published in Newark Pulse On Friday, September 28th, a new Learning Trail was opened at Nat Turner Park. The Trail the first one in Newark, was built by the combined effort of United Way Essex and West Hudson, NJ Partnership of Healthy Kids, YMWCA of Newark and Vicinity, Newark Youth Build and Newark Leadership Academy. The Born Learning Trail provides 10 self-guiding and engaging, interactive activities that adults can use to create early learning opportunities for children. By following a series of colorful shapes, signs and hopscotch squares, children can learn their numbers and letters through active play. The Trail is a great way for a community to use outdoor space to promote literacy, social development and physical activity. To learn more about the trail visit www.unitedwayessex.org or www.newarkymca.org/NJPartnership. SHARE:
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September 29, 2012
In the end, even the weather cooperated. Courtney Price, NJPHK-Newark project manager, had been watching the skies and praying for the rain to stop. The build day for the Born Learning Trail in Nat Turner Park was just two days away…and no rain date had been set. “I kept praying for good weather,” said Price. “We had scheduled the build for Wednesday and Thursday followed by the ribbon cutting on Friday. We had our resources and volunteers lined up. Everything was going for us, except the weather forecast.” Her prayers were answered. The two build days came off like clockwork and the rain held off until after the ribbon cutting on Friday. With NJPHK-Newark as the catalyst, the build days brought together community groups to erect, paint and stencil 10 engaging, interactive activities on the playground in Nat Turner Park. Once completed, the Born Learning Trail of colorful shapes, signs […]
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September 23, 2012
As a child, broccoli and lima beans were at the top of my list of all time yucky foods. I tried hiding the broccoli in my milk and giving the lima beans to my dog under the table. Neither one of these plans worked well for me. First the broccoli did not hide well in the milk and my dog did not like lima beans either! I tell you this story because I still to this day some 40 plus years later still will not eat broccoli or lima beans. We develop eating habits good or bad at a very young age that seem to stick with us for the rest of our lives. This is why I feel that the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids- Vineland has made some great progress bringing farm fresh fruits and vegetables to the Vineland School District’s school lunch menu. While we […]
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