The Junior League of Fort Worth is focusing their attention on the health of children in our city via the Kids in the Kitchen initiative. These women are ardent supporters in the fight against the epidemic of childhood obesity. To combat this issue, the JLFW has been working in our local schools to educate children in healthy choices as well as creating the Embrace Your Health Fair to provide the necessary food, tools, and equipment to follow these lessons out.
Western Hills Elementary, Western Hills Primary, Eastern Hills Elementary, The Leadership Academy at Como Elementary, and Rivertree Academy have all partnered with the Junior League women to participate in their wellness-related curriculum. This curriculum focuses on teaching the students the benefits of how good nutrition is a skill to be learned. Overall, impacting a child’s health can affect their preparedness to learn, their respect of self, and ultimately provide an example to that child’s loved ones of how they too can achieve a healthier lifestyle. At the end of this curriculum each campus participates in a pep rally where prizes that promote an active lifestyle are raffled off to encourage the students and show them how they can continue these healthy habits in their own lives once the curriculum is complete.
The 6th Annual Junior League of Fort Worth Embrace Your Health Fair also has this same focus but instead of impacting just the children, this event aims to provide support for the whole family unit. On Saturday, March 3rd, from 9:00am-12:00pm at Billingsley Field House (a FWISD Sports Facility on Foch Street), all Fort Worth families are invited to attend the health fair featuring wellness-related games activities, and prizes. Free groceries for families are being generously donated by the Tarrant Area Food Bank. Affordable health and wellness information will also be provided by The Daniel Migael Foundation, Cook Children’s, JPS, Fort Worth Drowning Prevention, and UNT Health Science Center (just to name a few!).
The overall goal of Kids in the Kitchen is to both engage and empower children (and their families!) to make healthy lifestyle choices. Knowledge is power. Ideally, with broader knowledge and exposure to healthier choices we will see a reverse in the growth of childhood obesity. The JLFW ladies are expecting that Kids in the Kitchen will impact 2,100 children through their wellness-related school curriculum and over 500 families during the Embrace Your Health Fair in March.
Add March 3rd to your calendar and stop by to support this free event that will positively impact so many families! These ladies are striving to keep Fort Worth healthy and I hope to see you there!
Michelle, aka @fortworthwoman, is a teacher turned counselor turned mommy turned entrepreneur.
Michelle has a passion for connecting, encouraging and informing about the good happening in our city. The good people, events, food, stores, entrepreneurs, and good deeds are her focus. She has created a niche for herself by using social media as a native marketing tool that has created meaningful exposure for local businesses in Fort Worth to a wide but very particular local audience.
