GSK [LSE/NYSE: GSK] today, with LiveWell Colorado and seven other organizations, held a community conversation to introduce neighbors to a dynamic new partnership that is engaging youth as change agents for a healthier community in three Denver neighborhoods: Globeville, Elyria-Swansea and Northeast Denver. A new $500,000 charitable grant from global healthcare company GSK is building upon the great work already underway in Colorado to promote healthy eating and active living.
The partnership, “The Youth Driven Healthy Recreation Center Collective,” is collaborating on dual programming that will improve the health of local youth by:
Increasing physical activity and healthy eating of youth participating in the healthy eating, active living programs offered at local recreation centers by 10 percent by September 2015
Empowering 50 youth (12-18) to research and present solutions that will improve the local recreation centers so that more of their peers will access local recreation centers and enter the on-ramp for healthier lives
Throughout it all, local business leaders will mentor the young people. The most compelling youth-led solutions will be funded and implemented – leaving sensible, sustainable solutions for a healthier community.
To hear perspectives by the organizations and children involved in this program, please click here.
“What better way to building a healthier community? I cannot think of a more worthwhile effort than giving our children the keys to learning, staying active and improving their own communities,” said Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “Now that’s the way to have a lasting impact for Denver.”
The collective includes the following organizations:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver
Earth Force
Globeville Elyria-Swansea LiveWell
GSK
LiveWell Colorado
LiveWell Northeast Denver
Share Our Strength Cooking Matters Colorado
Spark Policy Institute
The Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation
These organizations have a common agenda for this 18-month partnership, their activities are mutually reinforcing, and they have shared metrics and a commitment to continuous communication throughout the process to ensure greater collective impact.
Throughout the partnership, LiveWell Colorado is the Backbone Organization, serving as the fiscal agent and facilitating the collaboration. Spark Policy Institute is the Evaluation Partner, ensuring ongoing learning and course corrections throughout the partnership, and developing the comprehensive final evaluation which will measure the partnerships’ performance against the eight objectives.
The collective anticipates that this work will be successful in contributing fostering a healthier community, and can be replicated in other communities throughout Colorado and across the country.
“So much of our health is influenced by factors outside of the doctor’s office – in our communities. The more we understand this connection between our health and our community, the more we can improve it,” said Deirdre Connelly, President, North America Pharmaceuticals, GSK. “Through the GSK IMPACT Grant, we are funding a very thoughtful collective that can show the nation what it takes to build a healthier community.”
More than 100 local leaders and neighborhood residents participated in the discussion today at the Swansea Recreation Center. LiveWell Colorado Interim CEO Gabriel Guillaume described the collective and its objectives, the collective impact model to approach this work, and how the benefits of this partnership will go beyond the 18-month grant duration.
“We are very excited to be the recipients of the GSK IMPACT Grant for Metro Denver, which will enable us to coordinate our youth health and wellness programs into one stronger whole,” said Gabriel Guillaume, Interim CEO and Vice President of Community Investments, LiveWell Colorado. “The GSK IMPACT Grant will help us build the capacity of our organizations, work together for greater collective impact, allow our young people to be agents for change, and create long-lasting community-wide improvements.”
John W. Hickenlooper, Governor of the State of Colorado, reaffirmed Colorado’s commitment to becoming the healthiest state, and proclaimed March 13, 2014 as National Healthy Communities Day.
Healthy Communities – As part of GSK’s longstanding commitment to building healthy communities, in 2013 the company launched a national initiative designed to better understand the barriers and identify opportunities for building healthier communities in the United States. This initiative included a series of events, “Conversations on Community Health,” held in three cities: Philadelphia (September 2012), St. Louis (December 2012), and Denver (February 2013); a National Advisory Council convening in New York City (February 2013), and the release of a national survey (March 2013). Phase one uncovered new insights about what it means, and what it takes to build a healthy community. Phase two, which includes the GSK IMPACT Grants, leverages that knowledge and demonstrates innovative ways local organizations and businesses can work together to make a meaningful difference in communities.
GSK – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
This news is courtesy of www.gsk.com
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