PHA, MBUSA and five Let's Move! Active Schools partners commit to improve health of youth

Today at its fourth annual Building a Healthier Future Summit, the Partnership for a Healthier America announced that its first automotive partner, as well as five new Let's Move! Active Schools partners, committed to making healthier choices easier for busy parents and families.

Mercedes-Benz USA and Athletes for Hope, GoNoodle, Good Sports, Kids in the Game and Safe Routes to School National Partnership joined the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) ranks by making commitments to address physical activity among America's youth. During the second day of PHA's 2015 Building a Healthier Future Summit, these organizations announced their individual commitments to make physical activity and physical education available in school and out of school. PHA, which is hosting the Summit, works with the private sector and its honorary chair First Lady Michelle Obama to solve the nation's childhood obesity crisis.

"Today, Mercedes-Benz USA and our newest Let's Move! Active Schools supporters are making long-term, meaningful commitments to help end childhood obesity," said PHA CEO Lawrence Soler. "We are proud that our first automotive partner has joined us in this fight, and that the commitment to Let's Move! Active Schools continues to grow. We look forward to all these new partners will do to help today's youth stay active and healthy."

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) committed to building a national youth development, sports-based coaching force to increase the quality and quantity of youth physical activity programming. MBUSA will invest more than $10 million over the next three years to provide grants to Laureus USA, which helps identify, train, place and support sport-based youth development coaches and organizations nationwide.

Mercedes estimates this investment will impact 125,000 kids per year over three years.

"Investing in our youth and giving back to our local communities are integral to the culture at Mercedes-Benz USA," said Stephen Cannon, president and CEO of MBUSA. "Our ongoing collaboration and commitment to Laureus USA combines our passion for community and sports in a way that is making an impact. We look forward to continue helping kids across the country build healthier futures."

Specifically, Mercedes-Benz USA, through its investment in Laureus USA, is making the following commitments:

• Provide grants to organizations that train and place more than 1,000 coaches in after-school sport for development programs in schools across 25 cities.
• Encourage all organizations receiving grants to align with PHA's Seven Essential Practices for Kid's Physical Activity Programs.
• Strengthen sport for development programs and provide financial support and resources for organizations that use sports programming to deliver positive social, emotional and health outcomes for youth. Critical to that effort is Laureus USA's Model City Initiative, which provided capacity-building grants to six local youth sports organizations in its first model city, New Orleans.

Athletes for Hope, GoNoodle, Good Sports, Kids in the Game and Safe Routes to School National Partnership made the commitment to join Let's Move! Active Schools, a comprehensive program that empowers school champions to create active environments as part of the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative. These organizations will provide grant opportunities and resources to help create active school environments and ensure a healthy way of life for our nation's youth.

Since its 2013 launch, more than 14,300 schools have registered for Let's Move! Active Schools, and more than 8 million students have been impacted by the initiative. Let's Move! Active Schools strives to reach 50,000 schools and 25 million students by 2018.

Specifically, the organizations joining Let's Move! Active Schools are making the following commitments:

• Athletes for Hope, a nonprofit organization that works with athletes who seek to make a difference in the world, committed to facilitate in-person visits from professional athletes to schools enrolled in Let's Move! Active Schools to encourage students to lead active lifestyles.
• GoNoodle, which produces short desk-side physical activities to help teachers manage their classroom and improve student performance, committed to promote Let's Move! Active Schools through internal channels and promotional videos encouraging GoNoodle teachers and school staff members to enroll in the program.
• Good Sports, which provides athletic equipment, footwear and apparel to disadvantaged young people nationwide, committed to promote Let's Move! Active Schools and give Active Schools' participants priority for its grant opportunities.
• Kids in the Game (KITG), a nonprofit organization focused on inspiring kids to thrive in life through sports, committed to offering and promoting the KITG school grant program and include enrollment in Let's Move! Active Schools as a required benchmark for eligibility.
• The Safe Routes to School National Partnership, a network of organizations, government agencies and professional groups working to advance safe walking and bicycling to improve the health and well-being of children, committed to promote the Fire Up Your Feet Challenge Award opportunities and integrate Active Schools participants in future challenges.