Burlington County Medical Reserve Corps awarded $20,000
As part of her broader 2014 Burlington County health and wellness initiative, Burlington County Freeholder director Leah Arter announced that The Burlington County Medical Reserve Corps has been awarded a $20,000 Medical Reserve Corps Challenge Award from the National Association of County and City Health Officials in partnership with the Office of the Surgeon General. The award will be used to train MRC members to train daycare providers in implementing the CATCH Early Childhood program. CEC is designed to nurture a love of physical activity, provide an introduction to classroom-based gardening and nutrition and encourage healthy eating in children age 3–5.
“This important award will allow us to better prevent obesity and chronic diseases amongst our preschool children, allowing them to live longer healthier lives,” Arter said.
Nearly 200 MRC units from across the United States completed the application, and the top 29 most promising applicants received awards totaling nearly $600,000 to implement the proposed initiatives. MRC as Partners in Prevention will begin early this year.
The MRC Challenge Award funds MRC units to carry out innovative projects in their communities that can be replicated on a national level and align with one of four focus areas: community resilience; chronic disease prevention; partners for empowered communities; and mental and emotional well-being.
The MRC as Partners in Prevention, overall goal is reduce the risk of obesity and to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity and foster a healthier environment while children learn and play by implementing the CATCH program.
The Coordinated Approach to Children’s Health is not a new program but how the program will be implemented in Burlington County is innovative. By utilizing the Burlington County MRC, we are expanding public health outreach in combating childhood obesity and chronic disease. The MRC will be used to empower daycare centers and preschools to implement changes and introduce new curriculums to better address the nutrition and physical activity needs of children in their care. The MRC will be a free resource available to these facilities to instill change and positive outcomes in our youngest population that will have a lifelong impact in obesity and chronic disease prevention.
