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

 The University of New England will host more than 55 kids, ages 7–13, from the Portland Boys & Girls Club for a “Biddeford Blast for Kids” event.  UNE 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 UNE’s Biddeford Campus. 

UNE 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.

“Community partnerships, such as with UNE, provide Boys & Girls Club members with a breadth of experiences as part of the whole club member experience,” said Pierce. “We 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 UNE offices, academic departments, student clubs and community partners.  Collaborators include the UNE Office of WCHP Service Learning and Multicultural Affairs and Diversity; Department of Health, Wellness and Occupational Studies; Athletic training and Applied Exercise Science; the UNE Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences; UNE 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 UNE Facilities, and dinner will be donated by UNE’s Sodexo Dining Services.

“The event is yet another example of ways in which UNE collaborates with community partners to serve kids in the greater community,” said Mason. “It is also a great opportunity for UNE 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.