Chamber of Commerce

} } Kids in thekitchen By Rebekah Sanderlin Like Junior Leagues across the country, and even the world, the Junior League of Fayetteville has joined the fight against childhood obesity. Each year, women are teaching children (and parents) in their communities ways to incorporate healthy cooking and eating into their lives – they call it Kids in the Kitchen. The Junior League of Fayetteville holds the program every spring. Sondra Gouble organized last spring’s events which were planned in conjunction with the Cape Fear Botanical Garden’s annual spring plant sale, a sanctioned event of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival. Kids in the Kitchen provided children and adults opportunities to plant vegetables seeds, watch local celebrity chefs and participate in a fitness activity. The League looks forward to another Kids in the Kitchen event in the spring of 2011, so check the group’s Web site for full details. “We want to introduce children to ways to live and eat healthy,” Gouble said. Kids in the Kitchen was started by The Association of Junior Leagues International in 2006 in an effort to address the childhood obesity epidemic. The Junior League of Fayetteville joined 200 other Junior Leagues that first year and has continued to participate each year. The program began in response to a report issued by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which said nearly one-third of children and adolescents in the United States are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. With childhood obesity also becoming a problem in the other three countries where Junior Leagues exist – Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom – the organization created Kids in the Kitchen. In addition to events like the ones held each year in Fayetteville, the Junior League provides children with healthy recipes in English and Spanish plus games, activities, tips on nutrition, fitness and healthy lifestyles and an interactive “Kids’ Corner.” Gouble said that The Junior League of Fayetteville chose the popular annual spring plant sale at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden in order to introduce as many people to Kids in the Kitchen as possible. The plant sale is free and open to the public and any children who attended the sale with their parents or other adults were able to participate in the Junior League’s activities. Junior Leagues around the world have been advocating for nutrition and healthy Want to learn more? Visit www.kidsinthekitchen.org for recipes, games and more. The Junior League of Fayetteville celebrates 50 years of service in 2010. Learn more at www.jlfay.org habits for more than 100 years and the Kids in the Kitchen program is the latest link in a long chain of health and nutrition efforts. The Junior League of Fayetteville also has a long history of service and a dedicated force of more than 400 local volunteers. The group began as a Junior Service League in 1960 and became the Junior League of Fayetteville in 1977. Junior League of Fayetteville volunteers frequently join other local agencies to address issues of child health and welfare, including providing mini-grants for education, and helping students with early literacy, summer camps, technology, hunger relief and Spanish immersion programs. www.FayettevilleNCChamber.org | 59

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