Foundation Announces Food and Fitness Community Grantees

BATTLE CREEK, Mich., April 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced today $4.5 million in grants to nine projects nationwide that will participate in an effort to help communities embrace active living and healthy eating.

Each community group will receive a two-year, $500,000 grant to create a community action plan that maps out ways the community can support healthy children, help youth and families have access to local healthy food, and provide safe spaces and structures for physical activity and play.

"The problems of obesity, poor nutrition and physical inactivity present a major threat to the well-being of our children and our country," said Sterling K. Speirn, president and chief executive officer of the Kellogg Foundation.

"An incredible number of people and organizations are working hard to attack this issue. What the Kellogg Foundation brings to the table is its long and deep relationships with community, state, and national food networks and farmers, and our interest in public health," he said. "Our aim is to seize the energy and interest that already exists in communities and help them learn and grow new approaches."

The grantees receiving funding are located in a variety of rural and urban communities: Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; Holyoke, Massachusetts; New York, New York; five counties in Northeast Iowa; Oakland, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and Sells, Arizona (specifically, the Tohono O'odham Native American reservation). During the two-year planning process, communities will receive support and technical assistance for communication, policy, and evaluation. Each of the communities will then be eligible for potential implementation funding for up to eight years.

"The effects of poor diet and physical inactivity are well-documented," said Linda Jo Doctor, Kellogg Foundation program director in Health. "But there's more to the obesity story than personal behavior. What if your playgrounds aren't safe? What if your local market doesn't carry fresh fruits and vegetables? This initiative will help people in communities think together more about how they want to support kids and families, and address issues like physical activities in schools, safety in public spaces, creating community gardens, having markets for affordable local and regionally grown foods, and working with local planning boards to create more pathways for walkers and bicyclists."

"We are looking to solutions from communities that are ready to take this on in a holistic manner," said Gail Imig, Kellogg Foundation program director in Food Systems. "We are already seeing a profusion of creative and caring ideas from people who want healthier communities. We'll look to these communities to not only inspire one another, but also ignite and energize other communities across the country."

The $4.5 million in community grants is part of an initial $18 million in funding earmarked for this effort by the Kellogg Foundation.

These community grants will support communities where schools, hospitals, government/public health agencies, nonprofits, neighborhood groups, businesses, churches, and recreational facilities work together to become places where youth and families are encouraged to eat healthy and engage in physical activity. In keeping with the Foundation's interest in engaging people with diverse cultures, race, and ethnicity, several of the sites will specifically address the needs of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander populations.

The Foundation's effort is part of a nationwide Healthy Eating/Active Living Convergence Partnership, in which several food and health funders are working together to address physical activity and access to high quality food in the context of the natural, built, social, political, and economic environment. Convening partners for the national convergence activities include the Kellogg Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the California Endowment and Nemours Health and Prevention Services.

  The projects receiving funding are:
  --  Boston Collaborative, Boston, Massachusetts. Contact: Roger Swartz,
      (617) 534-4832
  --  Detroit Food and Fitness Collaborative, Detroit, Michigan. Contact:
      Pat Williams-Taitt, (313) 949-5079
  --  Holyoke Collaborative, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Contact: Daniel Ross,
      (413) 535-1789
  --  Partnership for Increasing Access to Healthy Food and Physical
      Activity for Children and Families in New York City, New York, New
      York. Contact: Kate MacKenzie, (212) 894-8078
  --  Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative, Northeast Iowa. Contact:
      Lora Friest, (563) 864-7112
  --  Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative, Oakland, California.
      Contact: Suzan Bateson, (510) 636-4903
  --  Philadelphia Food and Fitness Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
      Contact: Vanessa Briggs, (215) 731-6108
  --  King County Food and Fitness Initiative, Seattle, Washington. Contact:
      Erin MacDougall, (206) 205-8572
  --  Tohono O'odham Food, Fitness, and Wellness Initiative, Sells, Arizona.
      Contact: Tristan Reader, (520) 383-4966

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology; capitalizing on diversity; and social and economic community development.

Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

For further information, please visit the Foundation's Web site at http://www.wkkf.org/.