Library Receives $25,000 Grant
February 26th, 2016 by
The Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation has awarded the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library a $25,000 grant.
This grant will help Southeast Arkansas Regional Librarians to include healthy eating and physical activities in library programs for preschool, elementary and middle school students.
This grant comes at a terrific time. Because librarians are getting ready to celebrate the 2016 National Summer Reading program called Sports/HeaWFitness: On Your Mark, Get Set, Read!,
they will now have extra resources available to them- food to offer taste tests and cooking classes and low-impact physical activity equipment such as foam Frisbees and bowling equipment. Community volunteers from UAM and other agencies will help promote healthy lifestyles. Librarians in Monticello, Warren, Star City, Lake Village, Dumas and McGehee will use the training they receive to help their young patrons eat healthier and move more.
According to the Center for Disease Control, obesity in children aged 2-19 has almost tripled since 1980. This King Foundation Grant will help Southeast Arkansas libraries become part of the solution to childhood obesity. Other grant activities may include cooking competitions, fruit and veggie themed parties, after school gardening and walking clubs. Families will be invited to
participate in some of the activities so that they can use the recipes, ideas for moving more and motivation at home.
Librarians will begin to receive training at their April 2016 staff meeting.
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