NEWS 25 features Upgrade

NEWS 25's Whitney Ray sat down with Kevin Bain and Andrea Hays to discuss Upgrade. Watch the video here.

Mark Fenton walks Evansville

Mark Fenton, one the nation's foremost walking and built environment experts, visited Evansville recently to discuss how access to sidewalks, trails and other amenities affects our health and wellness. Click here to hear Mark's comments.

Upgrade that daily routine Small tweaks lead to large yields for your health

CourierPress.com
February 20, 2011

Remember all those New Year's resolutions you made last month? How's it going? If you're like most of us, the best intentions for an all-new you have faded into the reality of a schedule crammed with too many things.

Some of us resolved to spend more quality time with the kids, lower our expenses, go back to school, work on a home improvement project, eat better, overhaul our diet. The list goes on and on.

Yet, now that we are immersed in 2011, we are finding it difficult to commit to one more thing including a resolution. That is why the movement Collaborative developed the Upgrade campaign.

Upgrade is about those small things we can do to make potentially big differences in our health and well-being. For example, consider a quick 10-minute walk with the dog after dinner or drinking water instead of soda.

Other examples include taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking in the back of the lot, taking stretch breaks during the workday and bringing a healthy snack from home. An Upgrade can be any small change in your daily routine that will help you live a more healthful life.

In 2011, the movement Collaborative, through the support of the Federal Communities Putting Prevention to Work funding, will be working on projects to help community
residents achieve their Upgrades.

There will be prompts posted near elevators encouraging people to take the stairs. Additional parking spaces to accommodate 200 more bicycles via bike racks and corrals will be popping up across the community. A network of signs indicating details such as distance to destinations will start in the Downtown area and be scattered throughout high bicycling and walking routes in Vanderburgh County.

The two hospitals will be offering a healthy entree at a discounted rate to both employees and visitors. Finally, area high schools will be participating in a menu-labeling initiative in an effort to get teenagers to consider Upgrading in the cafeteria.

Taking on an Upgrade can truly be a small tweak to the daily routine that might potentially lead to large yields. For some, an Upgrade may even motivate them to take
on and stick to that larger health goal.

For others, committing to an Upgrade might make them a better role model and thus encourage others in the household to follow suit.

Ultimately, taking on an Upgrade doesn't have to be costly or very time consuming something we can all appreciate in our already busy lives. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go stretch.

For more information about Upgrade visit, www.upgradenow.org

For more information about the movement, visit www.welbornfdn.org and click on the logo at the bottom of the home page.

—Andrea Hays, movement

© 2011 Evansville Courier & Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Welborn Baptist Foundation, Inc. Announces 2010 Grant Awards

Evansville, Indiana - Welborn Baptist Foundation, Inc. www.welbornfdn.org has awarded a total of seventy-four (74) grants to Tri-State not-for-profit organizations, totaling approximately $3.24 million for programs within the Foundation's target areas of Promotion of Early Childhood Development, Promotion of Healthy Adolescent Development, Faith-Based Initiatives, Improvements in Community Health Status and School-Based Health Programs. Since the Foundation's first grant cycle in 2000, it has overseen the distribution of more than $33.8 million dollars through approximately 700 grants to 255 different organizations in the fourteen county area that comprises its service area.

"This is the culmination of a very competitive process that began in March of this year. This volatile environment placed a premium on grantees being able to clearly articulate the ultimate impact of their initiatives. We believe these grants represent the very best in efforts to improve the health and well-being of infants, children and adults in our community", said Foundation Board Chairman E. Lynn Johnson.