Youth Enrichment Services (YES), a preschool and after-school program operated in New Brunswick by Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen (CCDOM), has received a $10,000 ShapingNJ grant to provide a series of nutrition and fitness workshops to children and their families.
The YES program currently provides preschool for 165 children ages 3-5 and an after-school session for 65 school-age students. The program has participated in a number of state and federal nutrition and fitness programs, and created its own vegetable garden last year.
“We hope to encourage good choices now that will lead to lifelong healthy habits, and involving the whole family is key to its success,” said Krista Glynn, director of child care services for CCDOM.
YES will also join local organizations for a health fair 9 a.m.-1 p.m. April 11 in the parking lot of Sacred Heart Church, 115 Commercial Ave., New Brunswick. The fair will feature information and activities centered on health, nutrition and obesity prevention in celebrating the Week of the Young Child, April 12-18.
The ShapingNJ grants are awarded by the N.J. Department of Health, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/ NJ YMCA State Alliance, Partners for Health and Atlantic Health System.
CCDOM served 59,000 men, women and children in more than 100 programs in Middlesex, Warren, Hunterdon, and Somerset counties in 2014.