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Home > News
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| Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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Contact: Debra Thompson
Director, RMH Corporate Communications
540-564-5886
Horizons Learning Foundation, a Harrisonburg-based nonprofit organization, is competing for a $50,000 grant from the Pepsi Company to support its “Horizons Let’s Move” wellness program for youth and young adults.
The RMH Wellness Center will partner with Horizons Learning Foundation to develop and facilitate the program, according to Melinda Swisher, RMH Wellness Center director. The program will benefit participants 16 years and older from the national program called Job Corps. Job Corps is a free education and training program that helps young people learn a career, earn a high school diploma or GED, and find and keep a good job. The Let’s Move program will educate participants on nutrition, exercise and self-esteem and will take place at both Camp Horizons and the RMH Wellness Center.
The grant is part of the Pepsi Refresh project in which Pepsi is giving away $1.3 million in grants each month to 1,000 organizations who submit their project ideas on Pepsi’s Web site. Organizations can request $5,000; $25,000; $50,000; or $250,000. The organizations then have one month to see who can get the most votes. The top 10 vote-getters win the grants.
Horizons Let’s Move was created in response to Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, according to John Hall, a member of the Board of Directors for Horizons Learning Foundation. “I’ve seen young people miss out on job opportunities because of being obese. Employers look at them and automatically see the increased risk of accidents and workers’ compensation claims, higher health insurance and so forth. The goal of this program is to not only change people’s lives by empowering them to improve their health, but also to open the door to employment opportunities.”
Twenty-eight students will be accepted per month-long session. Students will learn and practice healthy eating habits, engage in exercise and discover how to incorporate movement into daily life. The program also will focus on the emotional aspect of wellness, helping students to improve self-esteem, Hall said.
“The RMH Wellness Center has offered specialized weight management and fitness programs for children and adolescents for more than eight years,” Swisher said. “We have the opportunity to share expertise, including exercise and healthy lifestyle education tailored to
youth. We’re excited to help a deserving population access programs and services that will help prepare them for lifelong health.”
To receive the grant money from Pepsi, Horizons Let’s Move has to be one of the top 10 vote-getters in the $50,000 category. To learn more, and to support the project, click here. Individuals can vote each day until the end of August, when the contest ends.
“We’re just a local organization trying to make a life-long impact on the lives of young people, and we need all the votes we can get,” noted Hall. “It only takes two minutes to vote each day, and we’d really appreciate your support.”
About the Pepsi Refresh Project
Pepsi is giving away $1.3 million in grants each month to 1,000 organizations who submit their project ideas on Pepsi’s Web site. Organizations can request $5,000, $25,000, $50,000 or $250,000. The organizations then have one month to see who can get the most votes. The top 10 vote getters win the grants.
Create an account at www.RefreshEverything.com
Create only one account—Pepsi has a third party monitoring the voting process, and if they detect individuals registering multiple email accounts to vote, the votes will be disqualified. Vote every day!
You can also vote once each day by texting 101460 to Pepsi (73774) and again by voting on the Horizons Let’s Move page on Facebook. These votes are in addition to the Pepsi Web site—they will not cancel your other votes.
Tell your friends!
Post a link on your Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn profiles so your friends can vote. Tweet about the contest and ask your followers to vote. Remind co-workers to vote. Send an Outlook invite for a reoccurring daily meeting so everyone remembers to vote.
Tell your family! Get everyone involved in voting.
Having an end-of-summer get together? Take five minutes to share about the project and ask your guests for their support.
Follow Horizons Let’s Move on Facebook.
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