FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation (AFYF), one of the most active team-lead foundations in professional sports, today announced it is investing $1.52 million to fund its Falcons Fitness Zones program for another three years and expand the program into more area neighborhoods.
Launched in 2005, Falcons Fitness Zones bring fitness and healthy living programs to nearly 6,000 metro Atlanta children each day, through partnerships at 30 sites with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, Metro Atlanta YMCA, YWCA of Greater Atlanta, Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, GoGirlGo! Atlanta and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hall County. Falcons players and cheerleaders visit sites throughout the year, leading fitness activities and emphasizing the importance of physically active lifestyles.
Falcons Fitness Zones are the centerpiece of the Foundation’s effort to improve fitness and fight youth obesity in Georgia. In 2007, the statewide Georgia Youth Fitness Assessment showed that less than three percent of the state’s fifth and seventh grade students could complete basic fitness testing.
“Georgia has an urgent need to get more kids fit and healthy, and Falcons Fitness Zones are making an important contribution in moving us toward that goal,” said John Bare, Vice President for Sports Philanthropy & Affiliated Funds. “We're impacting kids at school and during out-of-school hours and growing our outreach to parents. With this latest investment, we can build on that work.”
Five neighborhoods are designated Falcons Fitness Zones: Georgia Dome Fitness Zone (Vine City and surrounding neighborhoods); Grant Park Fitness Zone (encompassing neighborhoods in and around Grant Park); Kirkwood/East Lake Fitness Zone (encompassing the Kirkwood and East Lake communities); Cascade Road Fitness Zone (includes neighborhoods near the downtown corridor of Cascade Road); and the Gainesville Fitness Zone (encompasses all of Hall County, including sites in Commerce and Jefferson, Ga.).
“Our signature partners wake up every day committed to improving youth fitness and reducing youth obesity in the Falcons Fitness Zones,” Bare said. “They make the program work.”
