Walking to school and Green Ribbon Month!

In Utah, in an average year, 40 pedestrians are killed and 1,100 are hit in pedestrian/automobile crashes. Over one-half of the pedestrians hit and one-third of pedestrians killed are children. Children are at risk because of their small size and because they do not have the skills to handle traffic until they are at least 10 or 11 years of age. These tragic crashes can be reduced if children have safe routes to and from school, if they understand key traffic safety rules and if the community understands the dangers children face while walking.

September is Green Ribbon Month! During September, schools are encouraged to choose a week to promote pedestrian safety to students, parents and the community. Schools will hold activities to teach children how to walk and bike to school safely and to remind drivers to look for children and slow down in school zone.

The Weber-Morgan Health Promotion Division is giving out 10 Green Ribbon Month packets along with posters and green ribbon rolls. These items are meant to be used by elementary school officials to organize Green Ribbon Month events.The packet includes ideas for classroom activities, school safety fair and information about current community resources. The items are given out on the first come, first served basis. To request a packet, poster and green ribbon roll, please call 801-399-7181 or email:

Elisabeth Hansen: lhansen@co.weber.ut.us 
Travis Olsen: tolsen@co.weber.ut.us

The packet is also available for free download  HERE.

If you are parents and are interested in encouraging your children to walk to school, please check out the Walking School Bus app by Student Neighborhood Access Program ( SNAP) HERE. A walking school bus is a group of students walk to school with one or more adult. Parents in a neighborhood can use the app to organize walking school bus to the local elementary school.

Here to a safe and healthy school year!

Yummy Healthy Snacks for Kids!

According to CDC, most US youth :

• Do not meet the recommendations for eating 2½ cups to 6½ cups of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Do not eat the minimum recommended amounts of whole grains (2–3 ounces each day).
• Eat more than the recommended maximum daily intake of sodium (1,500–2,300 mg each day).
• Empty calories from added sugars and solid fats contribute to 40% of daily calories for children and adolescents aged 2–18 years, affecting the overall quality of their diets. Approximately half of these empty calories come from six sources: soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza, and whole milk

(Source: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/nutrition/facts.htm)

Healthy snacks are food that have fruit, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy and protein food as their main ingredients. Besides encouraging your kids to choose water over sugary drinks, here are 5 ideas for healthy snacks that you can easily make at home to help your kids reach their daily nutritional recommendation. :

1. Low-fat yogurt:

Whip up yogurt parfait with granola and berries or make a homemade yogurt fruity pop. 

2. Smoothie:

Use low-fat yogurt, 100% orange juice and banana as the smoothie's base and experiment with a variety of fresh and frozen fruit. You can also add vegetables like spinach and carrot.

3. Snack Mix:

Toss together nuts, whole grain cereals, banana chips, raisin, popcorn for healthy portable snack mix.

                             

4.Oatmeal cookies:

Oatmeal cookies are a good replacement for the high-sugar, high-fat cookies from the store. Oatmeal is a great source of fiber and minerals. The best part is that you can add dried fruit such as raisin, dried apricots, cranberries to boost the nutritional value and taste  

                                      

5. Fruit tortilla 

Spread peanut butter on a tortilla and wrap around any fruit that you have around the house. You can use strawberry, banana, cranberry, canned peach.This snack option is healthy, filling and convenient to grab on the go.

                               

Backpack Bonanza (by Catholic Community Services and United Way)

A new school year is approaching! The Catholic Community Services is collecting school supplies for low-income students for the next school year. You can help support our community by donating the below needed school supplies:

• Backpacks
• Pencil boxes
• Pencils
• Pens
• Notebooks
• Binders
• Glue sticks
• Binders
• Rulers
• Markers
• Color Pencils 
• Crayons

Cash donation is also accepted!
Donation can be dropped off at Catholic Community Services (CCS) or United Way by August 12th.
Time for donations drop-off:
CCS: 9am - 3pm 
United Way: 8am - 6pm

Families who requires assistance can also register to receive these items at CSS or United Way. Please register before August 14th.

August 14th and 15th are distribution days. 

Addresses:

Catholic Community Services : 2504 F Avenue, Ogden, UT 84401 (801-394-5944) 

United Way: 2955 Harrison Boulevard, #201, Ogden, UT 84403 (801-399-5584)