Teen health and fitness fair at the new Boys & Girls Club

Published January 8, 2012 | By Margie Gentner

/Photo by Margie Gentner

The Boys and Girls Club hosted a free family event Saturday. Walkin’ In My Shoes and the Kenosha Community Health Center co-sponsored the event. Several Kenosha community partner organizations came together to promote healthy lifestyle and wellness for today’s teens and young adults. The fair ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Exhibitors included:

AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin
Beachbody
Boys and Girls Club
Body Wise Therapy Massage
De Rango’s Pizza
Care Net Family Resource Center
Great Lakes Dermatology
Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, Inc.
Kenosha Community Health Center
Kenosha County Department of Health
Kenosha County Gang Prevention and Teen Task Force
Kenosha Human Development Center
Kenosha Literacy Council
KRW Tri-County Free Coalition of Kenosha, Racine, Walworth and Young Group Fact and WI Wins Compliance
Massage, Hope, Health & Wellness
Concerned Citizens Coalition on Alcohol & Other Drugs for Greater Kenosha County – Stand Tall Against Alcohol
Visionworks
Yoga & Friends

A soccer tournament and several basketball games were taking place during the fair. The parking lot was filled to capacity. There were healthy pizza cooking demonstrations by De Rango’s Pizza. They also provided free samples, along with other healthy snacks, like yogurt, and fruit. The Angels Dance, Tae Kwon Do by Victory Martial Arts, and Karate by Yin Yang Do demonstrated their skills.

A little about the Boy & Girls Club (taken from their website)(http://www.bgckenosha.org/):

The Boys & Girls Club is Kenosha’s largest provider of youth sports, recreational, cultural and educational opportunities. In 2010, over 5,000 local children from all walks of life were members of the club.

Their professionally trained staff and volunteers supervise wholesome, constructive activities that guide youth toward successful health, social, educational and character-building skills. Programming ranges from their very popular youth sports leagues to their teenage job programs. Their new facilities on the corner of 52nd Street and 14th Avenue are now open. These new “digs” enhance their ability to reach out to Kenosha children in a way that delivers profoundly effective solutions to the many challenges facing the young people of our community.

They support all children and teens in Kenosha County, with a specific program mission that enables them to focus on giving equal access and opportunities to youngsters who come from economically, socially, educationally and physically disadvantaged environments.

Their mission is “to inspire, enable and provide resources to all young people of Greater Kenosha to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.” They take that mission very seriously. The smiles on the faces of the children they serve underscore the success they are having in being able to confidently state “great futures start here.”