The grants, ranging in amount from $1,200 to $10,000, will
be used to reverse the rising tide of childhood obesity in Kane County through
a variety of programs designed to promote active lifestyles and increase access
to fresh fruits and vegetables.
The city of Elgin was selected to receive two grants – one
for $10,000 for the Elgin Community Garden Network to expand the number of
community garden sites through the city and one for $1,500 for the Bicycle and
Pedestrian Advisory Committee to support the Second Annual Bike for Life event.
Highland Fellowship Church will receive a $4,000 grant to
expand a community garden on their church site where local at-risk families can
learn how to grow food for themselves and for local food pantries.
DNA will receive a $3,500 grant to purchase equipment to
accept debit, credit and LINK cards at the Downtown Elgin Harvest Market. The
initiative will allow lower income residents greater opportunity to purchase healthy, locally grown and produced foods, and also
provides an economic boost to the local growers and vendors of the area by
increasing their customer base.
“We will now be able to open up the market to an underserved
population, giving them more access to locally produced foods and to their
community,” said Tonya Hudson, DNA executive director. “When they shop at the
market, they will also see cooking demonstrations by local chefs, exhibits by
local artists, performances by local musicians and more. We hope the experience
will encourage more engagement in the downtown and in the community.”
Grant recipients were chosen by the Consortium based on
their proposals to implement strategies that are contained in the Fit Kids 2020
Plan. This is the second time this year that the Consortium has distributed the
grants.
The Fit Kids 2020 Plan was developed by parents, physicians,
engineers, educators, planners, public health professionals, transportation
experts, faith leaders, local policy makers and more. The Funders Consortium’s
members are: the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, the United Way
of Elgin, the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, the Kane County Regional
Office of Education and the Kane County Departments of Health, Development and
Transportation.
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