BREC has launched a new initiative to keep kids moving this summer.
The new BREC on the Geaux vehicle is equipped with “imaginatively themed” activities including relay challenges, Wii/Xbox fitness games, scavenger hunts, nutrition and health, reading and counting and more, according to BREC’s website.
Purchased through part of the $1 million Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana Grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, BREC will be sending the vehicle throughout Baton Rouge.
The $1 million grant will also go towards the Capital Area Pathways Project or “CAPP,” which is currently under construction. Phase 1 of CAPP will consist of a 2.2 mile portion of the pathway which will extend from the Mall of Louisiana through the Picardy Bridge to Siegen Lane. Upon completion, CAPP will be a 7.4 mile loop that will run through Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the LSU Rural Life Museum, and Perkins Rowe, according to BREC.
“The program’s focus is to provide healthy, safe play options for kids.” said BREC Superintendent Carolyn McKnight, who cut the ribbon at the vehicle’s unveiling. “We will take play into those places that we call ‘food deserts’ and ‘play deserts.’”
This initiative comes on the heels of the American Medical Association officially declaring obesity as a disease last week. This designation is set to lead to more preventative actions as well as more treatment options and insurance coverage.
In regards to how obesity has affected the Baton Rouge community, McKnight believes that children deserve better.
“We take these types of vehicles into the community to get kids active and moving because we now know that obesity is a disease,” McKnight said. “Our kids don’t need to start off like this, they need a fighting chance.”
In addition to the fitness activities that BREC on the Geaux offers, children will also get a taste of healthy food alternatives. Red Stick Mobile Farmers Market, which launched last month to bring fresh food to areas lacking access to grocery stores and healthy foods, will be traveling along-side BREC’s recreation vehicle.
The library system’s Bookmobile will be another featured vehicle during the tour. The moving library will help to promote literacy while the children are out of school for the summer.
As of now, BREC on the Geaux is scheduled to visit various parts of the city until Aug. 7 and will have a different theme each week. Once the school year begins, the vehicle will run after school hours and on weekends.
“It’s exciting to be in Baton Rouge at this time,” McKnight said, “because we are really trying to make a difference and with this vehicle, with our trails and with the other things we are doing at BREC, we believe that we can move the health needle in the right direction.”