Because Nothing Should Weigh a Child Down

Author: Alisha Rappaport

NYC for Health Equity

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NYC Center for Health Equity announced the release of the 2015 Community Health Profiles. Profiles for 18 Brooklyn Community Districts are highlighted and this data on over 40 indicators to provide a broad understanding of neighborhood health and inequities in health outcomes. In Brownsville there is a life expectancy of 11 years shorter than compared to the financial district and the death rates due to diabetes, HIV, hypertension and homicide are more than twice the city rates. Programs like Live Light Live Right are much needed to address health disparities, fight obesity and diseases related to poor nutrition and environmental factors.

To read more on the recent press release, click here.

Live Light Live Right Visits the Farmer’s Market

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On August 29, 2015 Live Light Live Right took the children and their parents that attends the exercise program on a tour to the East New York Farmer’s Market located at Schneck Ave. Brooklyn, NY. The group was given a tour of the garden and our guide Tristian Mc. Queen was one of our fellow participants. Tristian works at the farmer’s market explained how food is grown, harvested and then sold at the farmer’s market. Rena Sooknanan, our Senior Care Coordinator, distributed health bucks that were provided by Brooklyn DPHO, to the children and their parents to purchase a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables from the market. They children and their families were given a juice demo by the Department of Health (DOH) staff and were educated about healthy eating habits and how to choose healthy drinks. The DOH Staff also described to the group how much sugar is in one bottle fruit juice and soda. Each child was given a vegetable cutting board and health buck for participating.

Volunteers from the East New York Farmer’s Market gave away school supplies to the LLLR children. They were very appreciative for the supplies and the parents were very grateful for all that our program is doing for their children.

Success Story: The Edwards Family Story

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The Edwards family has been with Live Light Live Right for the past 8 years, they have two girls 16 years old and one son, 8 years old. Mom has had her own struggles with weight and had bariatric surgery several years ago. That is what makes this even more personal for her, she stated, “She does not want her kids to go through what she has gone through herself.” They all feel that Live Light Live Right has made them more conscious about what they should be eating and how to have more balanced meals. The children have been able to build up their confidence and find friends that understand their struggles.

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Pump Up the Pumpkin—Why They’re Super!

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Did you know that over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin are produced each year in the United States? That the world’s largest pumpkin was more than five feet in diameter and weighed over 1,800 pounds? That each pumpkin has about 500 seeds and takes between 90 and 120 days to grow?

If you are looking to add pumpkin to your diet, keep in mind there are over 45 different varieties of pumpkin and that they are part of the winter squash family. They range in color from red, yellow, and green, and have names like Hooligan, Cotton Candy, and Orange Smoothie.

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Savor the Fall Produce and Hearty Soups

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Yes, it’s true, summer has come to an end. While it is sad to say goodbye to the barbecues, picnics and the summer season, it is a time to celebrate the beginning of a wonderful fruit and vegetable season. Fall is full of delicious foods you can work into your diet in a variety of ways that can perk up any chilly night.

Why Eat Seasonal Produce?

If you are interested in protecting the environment, buying local seasonal produce not only can potentially reduce our carbon footprint but it also helps local economies. Since it is grown locally, the produce is fresher.. which results in more nutritious produce.

From apples to sweet potatoes, autumn’s bumper crop of fruits and vegetables offer a range of intense flavors and substantial textures that you can use to make a piping-hot bowl of soup….a satisfying meal for a cozy fall dinner

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Our Big Summer Fitness Challenge Finale

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Our Live Light Live Right 6-Week Summer Fitness Challenge children participate in a supermarket tour at Western Beef located on East New York and Ralph Avenue. We wanted to give the children a real life experience and knowledge of how to food shop healthy. The children learned about product placement, how to shop for healthy items on a budget, the importance of reading the nutrition labels while shopping, and how to shop for fruits and vegetables. The LLLR team joined the children and shopped together to select healthier items to prepare lunch for the day. After shopping, they all had lunch at Lincoln Terrace Park. This field trip allowed the children to realized that it is possible to have a healthy meal on a budget.

We want to thank Western Beef for providing us with this amazing experience.

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Celebrating National Childhood Obesity Awareness

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Live Light Live Right is celebrating National Childhood Obesity Awareness month.  We want to showcase some of the wonderful events our children take place in to promote healthy living, such as trips to the Farmers Market, learning how to buy healthy groceries at Western Beef, and the importance of fitness.  To learn more about the award-winning work that we do at Live Light Live Right, please call 718-240-8125.

Live Light Live Right partners with Crunch Fitness for our Summer Fitness Challenge

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Press Release

Fighting Obesity One Child At A Time, Because Nothing Should Weigh a Child Down.

Brooklyn, NY (September 9, 2015) Live Light Live Right (LLLR) partnered with Crunch Fitness, the Crown Heights location in Brooklyn, for the Summer Fitness Challenge. Crunch Fitness incorporated their “Sweat School” into the exercise portion of LLLR’s fitness program. Crunch Fitness has sweat school classes at other NYC locations as well including Crunch W83rd Street. The Sweat School is a one–hour class taught by a group fitness instructor at Crunch, Kelley Green, that included; circuit training, a class called POUND®, obstacles course, running and lots of fun fitness activities. “We created Sweat School to show kids that fitness can be fun so that they can establish a healthy relationship with fitness that they can carry with them through their lives,” says Christina DeGuardi, SVP of Marketing, and Branding & Communications at CRUNCH.

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Job Opportunity: Basketball Coach and Personal Trainers

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Live Light Live Right is seeking an energetic and enthusiastic basketball coach and personal trainers to work with the children in our program.  We are looking for individuals that bring great energy and new ideas to our fitness program.  If you think that this is a position that you are interested in please contact us at alisha@livelight.org.

BRC Back to School – Back Pack Drive

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On Saturday, August 15, 2015 The Brownsville Recreation Center had their annual Back to School-Back Pack Drive. This was a fun and exciting event with activities that included, a fitness station, game station,  hula hoop station, DJ, a dance contest with refreshments for all to enjoy. In keeping in line with the mission of fitness, over 5000 pencils were spread out across the entire field and once the children received their back packs, they were allowed to race across the field and pick up as many pencils as they possibly could and place them inside of their brand new colorful back packs. The Live Light Live Right program was able to sponsor this event and every child in attendance received a back pack with school supplies, such as note books, folders, pencils, pens, markers, erasers, pencil sharpeners and reading books for school.

We are proud partners with the Brownsville Recreation Center and all the work that they do to help the children and their families of the Brownsville community.

Live Light Live Right partners with Crunch Fitness for our Summer Fitness Challenge

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Live Light Live Right has partnered with Crunch Fitness, the Crown Heights location in Brooklyn, for our Summer Fitness Challenge. Crunch Fitness has incorporated their “Sweat School” into the exercise portion of our fitness program. The Sweat School is a one–hour class taught by a Crunch Fitness personal trainer that includes; circuit training, pound, obstacles course, running and lots of fun fitness activities. Our LLLR children are participating in this program twice a week, in addition to working with our trainer, Ebony, in the park playing basketball and running. The children are enjoying the program at Crunch Fitness and are looking forward to it every week. Live Light Live Right hopes to continue our relationship with Crunch Fitness and create a long-term program with them to work together to fight childhood obesity.

Live Light Live Right receives a grant from We Are All Brooklyn Leading By Giving Committee

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Live Light Live Right is honored for being the recipient of the We Are All Brooklyn Leading By Giving Committee’s 2015 grant.

The We Are All Brooklyn Fellowship closing ceremony was on June 16, 2015 at 6:30pm. The ceremony was held at the Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery, John Jay School of Criminal Justice, CUNI, located at 860 West 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10019.

Their support of the Live Light Live Right program was special to us because of the commitment we all have to the community of Brooklyn.