Asics and PHIT America have partnered to bring a running program to Hornsby-Dunlap Elementary School, an elementary school in Austin, TX.
Asics, in cooperation with PHIT America, is providing financial assistance, known as a PHIT America GO! Grant, to Hornsby-Dunlap Elementary to grow its Girls on the Run program. The main contact for Girls on the Run nationally is Theresa Miller, chief engagement officer, and Alicia Henderson is the local executive director for the organization in Austin.The mission of Girls on the Run is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experienced-based curriculum that creatively integrates running. As a physical activity-based positive youth development program, Girls on the Run employs running and other physical activities as a medium for teaching essential life skills and core values for living a healthy lifestyle. The news of this latest PHIT America GO! Grant will be shared with the running industry when it gathers this week for The Running Event, which will be held in Austin from November 28-December 1 at the Austin Convention Center.
“National research reveals American children have become more and more sedentary which has both a negative effect on children’s health and their academic performance,” says Jim Baugh, Founder, PHIT America. “That’s why these PHIT America GO! Grants are so important. They help stimulate physical activity for children.”
“Physical inactivity is a national crisis,” said Gene McCarthy, President and CEO, Asics America Corporation. “Asics supports PHIT America’s efforts to reverse the ‘Inactivity Pandemic’ now affecting this country. This investment is critical to the future of our children and to America.”
GO! Grants are awarded to schools by PHIT America, with the support of KIDS in the GAME. In the past two years, more than 350 PHIT America GO! Grants have been awarded nationally to school P.E. programs – helping more than 175,000 school children get physically active. PHIT America GO! Grants help schools that are in desperate need of gear, programming or training for physical activity programs.
There is a huge need for these GO! Grants, as 48 percent of all high schools have no P.E. or physical activity programs. And, many school districts have even cut recess. With the average budget for physical education programs throughout the U.S. at only $762 per year for an entire school, it is estimated more than 40,000 schools throughout the U.S. are in need of help. More and more Americans, especially children, are increasing physically inactive which has led to national declines in sports participation, especially team sports. In a recent global study on exercise, U.S. children are ranked 47th out of 50 countries in worldwide fitness.PHIT America GO! Grants range in size from $1,000 to $5,000 per school. In every PHIT America GO! Grant application, schools indicate the need of their students to develop their motor skills, reduce obesity, and increase physical literacy and fitness.
Founded in January 2013, PHIT America is a non-profit campaign focused on overcoming the severe ramifications of the ‘Inactivity Pandemic’ through four strategic approaches – education, supporting school-based activity programs, a national event and advocating – which will get Americans, especially our youth, more active, fit and healthy.
