BJC School Outreach team honored for work to make children healthier

BJC School Outreach and Youth Development (SOYD) has been recognized for its work championing children’s health and combating childhood obesity with the Healthy Kids and Teens/Camp Get Fit Foundation “Raise the Bar Stakeholder Award.”

BJC SOYD was recognized for partnering with Saint Louis Public Schools and the Healthy Kids and Teens/Camp Get Fit Foundation (HKT.CGF) in the Missouri Foundation for Health’s Healthy Schools Healthy Communities (HSHC) initiative. The initiative brings together schools, community organizations, businesses, parents and residents to identify and push for changes that increase access to healthy food and physical activity where kids live, learn and play. 

BJC SOYD director Diana Wilhold, along with SOYD’s HSHC team members Erica Oliver and Kara Hughes, accepted the award at the second annual Unmasking Childhood Obesity Gala, sponsored by the HKT.CGF, Feb. 9, in Memphis. Brittanie McMullen is also on the SOYDHSHC team.

BJC SOYD was one of seven organizations honored for its “above and beyond support for our children’s health and wellbeing,” according to the HKT.CGF.

“It takes a village to foster healthy children and build healthier families. In the four short years Camp Get Fit has resided in St. Louis, BJC School Outreach has been one of our valuable stakeholders,” says Clintonia Simmons-Nichols, HKT.CGF president and CEO. “Whenever I’ve called, they have been willing to support our efforts and provide us with opportunities to help in our mission.”

HKT.CGF currently offers services throughout Tennessee and in Missouri. Its mission is to educate, motivate and assist America’s youth and families in living healthier lives. The organization focus has been in areas impacted by a disproportionate burden of illness, especially those attributed to the social determinants of health.