Sussex County Partnership for Healthy Adolescents...a program of the Center for Prevention and Counseling
...Funded by a Grant from NJ Department of Health & Senior Services, Child & Adolescent Health Program.

Healthy Kids Day Event

The Annual Sussex County Healthy Kids Day event was held at the YMCA on Saturday 4/12/08. It is a nationwide YMCA event that has been promoted locally in Sussex County through the Partnership - which facilitates its planning body, the Sussex County Healthy Kids Coalition. There was a big turnout this year, with over 350 kids, teens and families attending. Charles Kuperus, Secretary NJ Dept. of Agriculture was a special guest attendee, along with local county freeholders. The Partnership's "For Youth By Youth" project was also completed here - with the youth leaders posing as the "inquiring reporters" during the day to gather feedback from kids & families, with specifics on what new information they had learned. The group creatively chose to…"wear their questions on their shirts"…as a novel introduction to their audience!! Participating vendors for the day included Sodexho Foods/School Nutrition Association, SC School Nurses, Saint Clare's & Newton Memorial Hospitals, Office of Public Health Nursing/SC Cancer Coalition, Young Chefs Academy of Newton, Sussex Bike Shop, Money Smart Committee, Soccer Development School among others. The Center was well represented with tables for the Partnership, CFPC Resources, Youth Leadership Institute, CAT & REBEL. The "Passport to Health" that The Center created was also used again this year to make sure every vendor was visited. Most activities were interactive and promoted the idea of total body health, wellness and balance in lives of families. Topics included healthy family cooking, bike helmet safety & soccer demos, health & nutrition resources, "Turn Off TV Week" promotions, diabetes awareness for teens, cancer prevention/Relay Game, skin cancer prevention /dermascan screening, dental hygiene, proper hand-washing hygiene, Food Fear Factor Game, Nutrition Jeopardy Game, Money Smart Fiscal Literacy/Piggy Bank Contest - plus raffle prizes throughout the day. The Grand Raffle Prize was two gift certificates of $150 to Sussex Bike Shop - donated by Saint Clare's Hospital. All vendors donated prizes, refreshments, giveaways and other gifts/ in-kind donations for the day, so that it was free to the public! It was a very generous day of giving and a GREAT time was had by all! This event truly is a wonderful community-wide, collaborative effort - which is why it is so successful!! The county's children and families are the ones who benefit most.