Helping young heroes help their peers

Sometimes I’m really proud of my company, UnitedHealthcare:
· It helped Greater St. Mathew Baptist Church in Philadelphia hold healthy cooking classes for a group of preteens who prepared a healthy luncheon for 50 of their peers.
· It helped Klein Elementary School students in Erie plan a wellness-themed science fair with a family night to share their projects and prepare a healthy dinner.
· It helped students in the Lackawanna College early childhood education program bring healthy eating and lifestyle programs to 6 childcare centers in northeastern Pennsylvania.

We helped all these programs fight obesity and unhealthy lifestyles through our HEROES program, which awards grants for youth programs that get friends, classmates and community members moving toward a healthier lifestyle.

UnitedHealth HEROES is a service-learning, health literacy initiative designed to encourage young people, working through educators and youth leaders, to create and implement local hands-on programs to address the issue of childhood obesity. The HEROES program awards grants to schools and youth-focused, community center-based programs that demonstrate a clear understanding of the health risks associated with childhood obesity and propose creative solutions that can be easily implemented, scaled and measured in their schools and communities.

In its second year, UnitedHealth HEROES is now open to new applications from schools and community organizations with creative ideas for spreading the word about childhood obesity in 2010.