BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – By the end of 2012, citizen workgroups of Let’s Move! Blue Springs plan to increase physical fitness activities for residents, plant community gardens, and provide additional food resources for children in need in the Blue Springs School District.
On July 9 Citizen Summit, participants prioritized more than 150 ideas that were generated in the June 18 Summit. Through a multi-voting approach the group narrowed the list to eight initial project ideas.
The project ideas are:
• Community-wide fitness event
• Community Gardening
• Expansion of the Blue Springs School District Back Snack program
• Girls on the Run
• Healthy Foods in Schools/Nutrition Classes in the Schools
• Let's Move! Saturdays
• Livable Streets with Walking Trails
• Let's Move! Signage/PR
Residents are encouraged to join these workgroups by calling StandUp Blue Springs at (816) 478-4500 or emailing LetsMove@StandUpBlueSprings.org. Each workgroup is seeking to recruiting additional members. Several groups already have their first meeting scheduled.
“The commitment of those who participated in the summits is evidence that citizens want to focus on building generations of healthy citizens. Now we are asking the community to respond by helping us accomplish these citizen-driven goals,” said Dave Wright, Board President of StandUp Blue Springs.
Already moving forward are plans to present a “Livable Streets” policy to the Blue Springs City Council for consideration by the end of this year to ensure that safe places to walk, bike and hike are integrated into future city planning. Addressing infrastructure policy in Blue Springs is only one of many ideas that citizens attending previous Let’s Move! summits.
“I applaud the residents who attended the Let’s Move! Summits and invite anyone who is interested in becoming involved in any or all of the project ideas to contact StandUp Blue Springs,” said Mayor Carson Ross. “Workgroups like these demonstrate how just working together we can help solve the problem of childhood obesity in Blue Springs.”
These are just the first round of projects selected during summits held this summer by StandUp Blue Springs, in conjunction with the City of Blue Springs and other local community partners. Nearly 100 residents of Blue Springs participated in the summits.
Blue Springs was officially designated as a Let’s Move! Community in March 2011 and has taken an innovative approach to engage all citizens through its “summit process.” The nationwide Let’s Move! initiative was created by First Lady Michelle Obama and the Department of Health and Human Services as part of a national effort to raise a healthier generation of children. This initiative is a comprehensive approach to engage the many sectors that reach children, including parents, families, schools, community leaders, municipalities and businesses. The Let’s Move! goals are based on four pillars: 1) make healthy family choices, 2) create healthy schools, 3) provide access to healthy, affordable food; and 4) promote physical activity.
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