Mayor aims to fight childhood obesity and diabetes, announces Operation 'Play in the Park'; campaign will utilize 12 city wide parks as exercise camps this summer, Mayor says children will have fun and become educated on health and wellness
City Youth Bureau embraces new charge as invigorators and educators
Assemblywoman Destito providing children with healthy snacks
Governor David Paterson applauds Mayor's efforts to keep Utica youth healthy, says campaign coincides with his administration's vision for children
Mayor kicks off campaign with new commercial
July 13, 2009 – (Utica, NY) – Last year, Utica Mayor David Roefaro made some changes to the youth bureau. He redefined the bureau's summer focus by providing youth with a few sports camp activities.
This year, Roefaro has fine tuned those changes and added health and wellness education into the summer program mix.
"Today, I am announcing a new campaign that will provide Utica's youth with something to do, something to learn about, and something to get them thinking about a healthy lifestyle," the mayor said. "This summer's campaign to get kids off the sofa, off the chips and soda, is called Operation 'Play in the Park'."
"Operation 'Play in the Park' has been conceived because I'm hoping children leave these parks everyday knowing that exercising and eating healthy is fun," Roefaro added.
This summer, exercise sport camps are being offered in Football, Lacrosse, Running, Soccer, and Baseball, some with actual professionals doing the teaching and coaching.
The Mayor also added that the city's golf, tennis, swimming, and speed camps are attracting more participants than ever before, and the mayor wants those numbers to keep increasing, along with awareness as to why it's important to play outside.
"Utica will be setting a statewide example with this initiative. I sincerely believe that if we educate our children about a healthy lifestyle, they will embrace one," the mayor said.
Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito echoed those sentiments, and that's why she too is playing a part in "Operation Play in the Park". "I'm hoping my donation of various healthy snacks will entice kids to stay and play, not leave the parks in search of junk food," Destito said.
The Assemblywoman also added, "I will share this new healthy campaign as a positive example with my colleagues in the Assembly. The City of Utica is using a holistic approach, with a wide variety of activities that will promote healthy living and healthy eating, as well as involving entire families in promoting healthy choices."
To reinforce the efforts of Operation 'Play in the Park', Roefaro has also announced the release of a new television commercial aimed at sparking interest in parents and involvement by Utica's youth. The commercial begins airing today.
Operation 'Play in the Park' aims to keep kids healthy, and that's been a goal of the Paterson administration since day one, "I applaud Mayor Roefaro and Assemblywoman Destito for their commitment to children's health, a priority of my administration and also the work of the First Lady, Michelle Paige Paterson. I am confident that with programs like "Play in the Park," our children will learn the important lessons of healthy living to make exercise and proper diets a part of their lives," said Governor David Paterson.
