Paco's Mexican Restaurant is opening its doors to help support kids in Southern California through A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT) by donating a portion of sales to WFIT the night of our fundraiser. All you have to do is dine-in or order take-out at Paco's during the fundraising event, and your support will allow WFIT to continue creating positive change in our communities by investing in the health, success and well-being of all young people.

When
Sunday, May 6, 2012
3 pm to 9 pm

Where
Paco's Mexican Restaurant
200 E. Foothill Blvd
Arcadia, CA 91006

What
Dine-in or take-out orders qualify

Paco's Mexican Restaurant offers delicious, home-made Mexican food in a festive atmosphere. Click here to check out their Website for more information. 

We hope to see you there! Thank you for your support.

For questions about this fundraiser, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Mario Flores is an avid sports fan and has always had a passion for helping others in need. He was working as a campus aide at his alma mater Virgil Middle School in Los Angeles, when his friend told him about A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT). After learning more about the organization, Mario decided to apply for a job and was hired as a soccer coach at Virgil. Coaching turned out to be tough for him at first because even though he already knew most of the kids and the basic rules of the game, he really didn't know many successful coaching techniques.

Through WFIT's extensive Mentors in Motion℠ training program, Mario developed and refined his coaching skills and has become a positive adult mentor and role model. Mario knows he's making a real difference in the community by providing his guidance and advice to his students to keep them off the streets after school, when the highest incidences of youth participating in criminal or unsafe activities occur.

After working for WFIT for more than 10 years now, Mario continues to inspire his students to be physically active, eat healthy, and succeed in school, which gives him a real sense of accomplishment. Recently, after his sports teams advanced to the semifinals and district finals he said, "It's awesome to see their faces and hear them talk about it in school when they get their trophies. Some of them have never won a trophy before. It's really rewarding."

Mario's compassion doesn't stop with his kids. His older brother Nelson is currently experiencing kidney failure and has been on dialysis since his first kidney transplant failed six years ago. Mario has been with Nelson every step of the way, taking him to doctor's appointments, dialysis or running errands. Last year, Mario decided to donate a kidney to Nelson and has undergone extensive tests needed before the transplant.

Before the surgery took place, the WFIT team wanted to give the brothers a memorable experience together. They are both huge L.A. Lakers fans, but had never been to a game together. Thanks to the generosity of a few donors who were touched by their story, Mario and Nelson were able go to three Lakers' games together this season. Unfortunately, recent tests show that transplanting Mario's kidney to Nelson would not be successful, so Nelson is currently on a waiting list for a new kidney donor. Despite this news, Mario has remained positive and determined to do whatever it takes to ensure a healthier future for Nelson, himself and the kids he works with at Virgil.

A World Fit For Kids! is proud to support the SparkOpportunity Challenge, which launched April 12. Musician and member of the White House Council for Community Solutions Jon Bon Jovi is helping to promote this exciting competition that encourages young people to share their solutions for rebuilding pathways to education and jobs.  

All solutions are fair game, from entrepreneurial ideas to social change. Submit your solutions, vote for your favorites and help spread the word. Winners receive an iPad, a seed grant and mentoring to see their ideas made real in their communities. 

The Challenge was developed by SparkAction, an initiative of the Forum for Youth Investment, and the Youth Leadership Institute, in support of the White House Council for Community Solutions' work on behalf of disconnected youth.

Click the banner below for more information.

A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT) is asking you to join its movement to create positive change by investing in the health and success of all young people. 

Today WFIT launched a 30-second and 60-second version of a public service announcement (PSA) aimed to encourage support and donations from the public to help create ‘A World Fit For Kids!’ The PSA features WFIT spokesperson Kevin Sorbo, team members, coaches and young people as they envision a world where all kids have positive mentors and can themselves become leaders and role models for peers and younger generations. 

Click here to view the 60 second PSA

Click here to view the 30 second PSA

Since 1993, WFIT has helped create this world by providing healthy behaviors programming and training that empowers kids and adults to develop healthier habits and successfully improve their emotional, mental, and physical well-being. 

The PSAs were generously produced and donated by Warner Bros. Studios. The 30-second version is currently being aired on Universal Sports, the premier multi-platform media destination for Olympic-related sports programming in the United States. 

We are proud to announce that our CEO, Normandie Nigh, was recently awarded the ‘Champion for Change’ GOLD Award during the Network for a Healthy California’s Statewide Conference held March 5-6 in Sacramento, California. This award is the Network’s top honor and recognizes community leaders who exemplify empowerment, act as change agents and are dedicated to making a positive difference in their communities.

Normandie was recognized for being a long time champion for healthy kids and a leader in advocacy and education efforts for quality physical activity, nutrition and healthy behaviors programs and training—especially for students and families from economically disadvantaged communities of Los Angeles. Her efforts to reduce childhood obesity, increase graduation rates and enhance students’ ability to succeed have set the foundation to create long-term change in underprivileged communities. As the CEO of A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT), Normandie has guided the organization from a small in-school fitness and self-esteem program to a leading provider of transformational healthy behaviors and personal empowerment programming and training for young people and adults.

Using her professional experience and highlighting the data collected from WFIT’s program evaluations, Normandie provides expert knowledge and guidance to local, state and national youth-serving organizations, legislators and policy makers to shift school and community cultures toward healthy behaviors and optimal student health. She strives to create a world where childhood obesity is no longer an epidemic – a world in which young people from low-income neighborhoods are completing high school, ready for the workforce and higher education. Thank you for all you do, and congratulations Normandie!

Together with these valuable partners, we are working hard to continue providing award-winning programming and training to youth and families from some of the most economically disadvantaged communities of Los Angeles. Here are some highlights from a few partners who are supporting our cause:

The California Community Foundation has granted WFIT a $130,000 grant through The Preparing Achievers for Tomorrow (PAT) Fund to expand our sports, physical activity, nutrition and leadership programming and training at Santee Education Complex, located in South Los Angeles. PAT is a five-year, multimillion dollar initiative of the California Community Foundation to improve academic achievement, decision-making skills and self-esteem of youth in South Los Angeles through participation in music, sports and recreation. PAT provides grants to nonprofits for direct services for young people and helps strengthen the ability of nonprofits to deliver services over the long-term. PAT has been established by a legacy gift from an anonymous donor whose life was devoted to helping others as a volunteer to nonprofits in Southern California, and who valued the opportunities that music and athletics can provide to young people.

Additionally, WFIT received a grant for $39,927 from The California Endowment to support WFIT's Physical Activity For All initiative. WFIT CEO Normandie Nigh and her team will continue to promote the importance of quality physical education, physical activity and healthy behaviors education for ALL children and youth.

Once again our generous partner, the John W. Carson Foundation, created by longtime Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, has made a $25,000 donation to WFIT. The foundation's contribution will help WFIT build healthy communities that support student health and well-being both in and out of school. Using this gift, WFIT will be able to better impact the fitness, health, educational performance and life-readiness of youth, and enhance the lives of the teens and adults who work with them.

These funders—and individual donors like you—have allowed WFIT to make a lasting, positive change in the lives of young people, just like Edgar, but there are so many more kids who still need our support. Our goal now is to leverage our abilities, expand our reach, and bring our successful model to many more young people and adults across the nation and the world—so they can achieve the same breakthrough results!

Please join us in downtown LA on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm for good wine, music, food and friends…and learn more about the great work of A World Fit For Kids!

The Los Angeles Athletic Club
431 West Seventh Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014

$75 per person

Valentine's Day Special...Share the Love! Register two people for the event and only pay $60 per person!*

To register, call 213-387-7712 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

*Valentine's Day Special applicable when two people register for the event by 2/3/2012.

Our Celebrity/Spokesperson, Kevin Sorbo, will be hosting the event, and we will be serving great wine and hors d'oeuvres. Tours of the beautiful Los Angeles Athletic Club will be offered to our guests as well. All proceeds benefit A World Fit For Kids! and help provide healthy behaviors programming and training to underserved kids and families in Los Angeles.

If you’re not able to make it to LA for the event, please consider making a donation or buying a “virtual ticket” to show your support. We accept donations by mail, phone, email or visit the donation page on our Website. Any support helps...click here to make a donation.

Parking garage available: $4.50 per car

See you there! 

In an effort to expand the A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT) elementary school curriculum offered,  all the WFIT coaches from Frank del Olmo Elementary School site are receiving four additional training sessions in nutrition, enrichment, art and literacy this summer.  

Coaches are learning additional recipes to add to the WFIT collection of healthy snacks, including green lemonade made with kale and a lettuce wrap made with romaine lettuce, peaches and almond butter. WFIT coaches will also teach enrichment activities where students will create their own instruments (maracas, rain sticks, tambourines and rattles) while learning about the history of instruments. 

Furthermore, coaches are training to work with youth on standards-based art projects to learn about primary colors, types of lines, different perspectives and the different types and uses of paint. Lastly, the literacy element will introduce journaling to the students where they will learn about perspectives and making predictions. To support student comprehension, the coaches will introduce two different questioning strategies during the literacy component.  

The new training curriculum is currently being piloted at Frank del Olmo Elementary School and will be included at all of WFIT’s elementary school sites once the program has been evaluated. 

The 6th Annual California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Spotlight Awards presented by the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation will once again honor individuals, organizations and events that positively impact the physical activity and fitness levels of California’s children and youth. Up to $10,000 in prizes available to honor champions of youth fitness. Click here for more information or to make a nomination!                                                                          

Union Elementary and Frank Del Olmo Elementary Schools are located in urban Los Angeles neighborhoods where fast food is abundant and access to affordable, fresh produce is difficult. In an effort to integrate a nutrition curriculum that teaches the basic skills of math and science, A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT) introduced a school garden at each site to provide students with an opportunity to experience planting, weeding, harvesting and tasting fresh produce. 

Rotoluxe, a company that designs and manufactures environmentally sound products made of 100% recycled plastic bottles, donated two large garden planters that were showcased at the LA Gift Show.  Additionally, Certified Master Gardener and Horticulturist Geri Miller of Home Grown Edible Landscapes, volunteered to arrange a variety of plants in the planters including lettuce, peas and broccoli.

The new school gardens complement WFIT’s enrichment program where participants explore the components of the ‘farm to plate’ concept to better understand the origins of their food and the impact it has on their community and the planet. Students also become advocates for healthy eating by preparing the foods they grow and presenting them during recipe demonstration workshops offered bi-weekly at WFIT’s Snack Shack at Frank Del Olmo Elementary. 

In addition to the school gardens, a group of 1st and 2nd grade WFIT students at Union Elementary School planted a tree in the main playground. The students learned the basic facts about trees including what they need to survive and the benefits of having trees on their school campus and in their community. The students will be responsible for watering and maintaining the tree, which will provide shade for students and school staff in the future.

In its new implementation strategy for the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan, the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA) has identified A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT) as an organization making a systemic and sustainable impact on the health of communities.

NCPPA's new report, Make the Move 2010-11 - Implementation of the U.S. Physical Activity Plan, singles out WFIT as a "successful example" of how physical activity can be promoted afterschool by enacting a policy to get kids moving. ‘Make the Move’ specifically highlights WFIT's consistent messaging and modeling for youth and their partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District as an exemplary model for other afterschool programs and school districts. 

The U.S. Physical Activity Plan is a comprehensive set of policies, programs, and initiatives designed to increase physical activity in all segments of the American population. It aims to create a national culture that supports physically active lifestyles. WFIT is the only afterschool program highlighted in the report.  To view the mention of WFIT in the Make the Move Implementation Plan, click here.

Teen Fit For Success^(SM), the signature teen training and internship program of WFIT, was awarded the 2010 High School Innovator Award for Youth Development at California Afterschool Network's Step Up High School Summit.

Recognized at the conference for her organization's successful approach to afterschool youth development, WFIT Executive Director Normandie Nigh was honored for developing and implementing Teen Fit For Successs^(SM), which equips inner-city high school students to mentor elementary and middle school youth on physical fitness, nutrition and leadership. These teens are provided the resources and support needed to not only become role models of healthy living in their neighborhoods, but to also excel in their personal and academic lives.

To learn more about this award-winning program, click here.