•
BIDDEFORD, Maine

ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ helps children embrace healthy lifestyles with Biddeford Blast for Kids event

 The ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ will host more than 55 kids, ages 7–13, from the for a β€œBiddeford Blast for Kids” event.  ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ student volunteers and community partners will offer a variety of sports, recreational, health/wellness and nutritional activities and crafts that promote a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.  The event will take place on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, from 4:30–6:30 p.m. at the Harold Alfond Forum on ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ’s Biddeford Campus. 

ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ student volunteers and community partners will provide hands-on activities such as soccer and basketball clinics, fun team-building exercises, a bike safety clinic with bike helmet fitting presentations, a mask-making craft, nutritional activities and healthy snacks, a scavenger hunt, a labyrinth walk and more.

According to Jen Pierce, unit director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine’s Portland Clubhouse, the event is important because it helps provide awareness for young club members about making healthy decisions and living healthy lifestyles.

β€œCommunity partnerships, such as with ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ, provide Boys & Girls Club members with a breadth of experiences as part of the whole club member experience,” said Pierce. β€œWe continue to build on our partnerships in the communities we serve so that every club member has positive opportunities to build great futures.”

Trisha Mason, M.A., coordinator of the Westbrook College of Health Professions (WCHP) Office of Service Learning, said the event is a wonderful University and community collaboration involving multiple ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ offices, academic departments, student clubs and community partners.  Collaborators include the ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ Office of WCHP Service Learning and Multicultural Affairs and Diversity; Department of Health, Wellness and Occupational Studies; Athletic training and Applied Exercise Science; the ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences; ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ United Multicultural Club; Maine Bike Coalition; Michael T. Goulet Foundation and Community Bicycle Center; Healthy Maine Partnerships; Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition; and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) initiative. Transportation to and from the Portland Boys & Girls Club will be provided by ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ Facilities, and dinner will be donated by ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ’s Sodexo Dining Services.

β€œThe event is yet another example of ways in which ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ collaborates with community partners to serve kids in the greater community,” said Mason. β€œIt is also a great opportunity for ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ students to demonstrate leadership skills and serve as positive role models for the younger students. Bringing youth onto campus helps demystify college for younger kids and hopefully encourages them to see higher education as a place for themselves one day.”

For more information, contact Trisha Mason at tmason2@une.edu or Donna Gaspar Jarvis at dgaspar@une.edu.

About the ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ

The ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.