The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
Aug 7, 2007
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committing $20 million to fund an expansion of the Healthy Schools Program, the Associated Press reports. RWJF and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation announced the expansion grant on Tuesday. The program was created by the Alliance in 2006 to help schools develop and implement policies and practices that promote healthy eating and increased physical activity for students and staff. The Alliance, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and Clinton Foundation, also honored 26 schools for meeting benchmarks established by the Healthy Schools Program. The expansion announcement and award presentations were highlights of the second Annual Healthy Schools Forum, held at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark. The expansion grant will enable the program to provide in-person support to more than 8,000 schools by 2010, a dramatic increase from the 230 schools currently receiving hands-on guidance. The program also will expand online support for schools all across the nation. The expansion will target states with the highest obesity rates, including: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and West Virginia. Noting that the Healthy Schools Program "has shown that change is possible," RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey says the expansion is a step toward the foundation's goal of reversing the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015. The $20 million expansion grant is the second major funding commitment for the program from RWJF, which last year awarded $8 million to launch the program. (AP/Asheville Citizen-Times, 8/7/07; Diamond, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/7/07; RWJF release, 8/7/07).