In mid-September, Kim Ferreira represented the City of New Bedford at the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties Celebratory Event at the White House. The City was recognized as only one of 58 other communities across the country for achieving Gold Medal status in all five of the program’s areas, which include meeting goals in nutrition, physical activity, food service, policy making, etc…
Some examples of the work completed to fulfill these goals include:
- Partnering with several local daycares to implement internal policies that boost nutrition and physical activity
- Working with New Bedford Public Schools to designate “Wellness Champions” at each school
- Partnering with New Bedford Parks, Recreation & Beaches to promote the “Play in the Park and Summer Food Programs”
- Working with the “Safe Routes to School” initiative to increase opportunities for children to get more exercise, encouraging students to walk or bike to school on a daily basis
- Implementing the Healthy Meeting Guide Policy, which offers healthy food and snack suggestions for city employees when planning meetings and events
“It was amazing to not only see the First Lady speak – and mention New Bedford specifically – but to spend the day talking with other mayors, elected officials, and city leaders who are doing such great things in their communities. I’m so proud that New Bedford is included within a group of such stand-out cities,” says our director, Kim Ferreira.
You can watch the First Lady’s speech below (check out her reference to New Bedford at the 2:30 mark)!
We couldn’t have successfully met all of these goals without the leadership of Pauline Hamel (our original director), the City of New Bedford – Mayor Mitchell, in particular, all of our coalition members, and our support staff at the Mass Department of Public Health! To learn more about New Bedford’s participation in the Let’s Move! program, click here.