Volunteers Spruce Up Elementary Schools On BCHD's Garden Prep Day

REDONDO BEACH, CA — More than 70 volunteers this week tended to elementary school gardens in Redondo Beach for Beach Cities Health District’s LiveWell Kids Garden Prep Day.

Volunteers, parents and students Wednesday worked at eight of the LiveWell Kids gardens. The LiveWell Kids program works to help prevent childhood obesity through hands-on gardening and nutrition lessons.

Volunteers planted and weeded to prepare the gardens for the upcoming school year, organizers said.

"We’re in the business of producing the next generation of healthy students and we’re lucky we have an enthusiastic army of volunteers to help with this mission," Beach Cities Health District CEO Tom Bakaly said in a statement. "Our programs wouldn’t be effective without the help of our community and we’re thankful for the overwhelming support we receive for our LiveWell Kids gardens and other programs."

LiveWell Kids was created in 2005 in response to an alarmingly high rate of obesity at the time – more than one of every five Redondo Beach elementary school students was obese. Today, following LiveWell Kids programming in Redondo Beach elementary schools, the obesity rate (grades K-5) is now 6.4 percent versus 18.5 percent nationally.

When school resumes, so will the regularly scheduled farm-to-table lessons, physical activity breaks and mindfulness practices delivered to more than 6,000 children by BCHD volunteers (in-person and virtually), organizers said.

Programming for LiveWell is in partnership with Redondo Beach Unified and Hermosa Beach City School Districts. Manhattan Beach partners with local organization Growing Great for its nutrition program.

Volunteers worked at gardens at the following elementary schools Wednesday:

• Alta Vista
• Beryl
• Birney
• Jefferson
• Lincoln
• Madison
• Tulita
• Washington

Visit the website for more information about LiveWell Kids programming.

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