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WNBA Minnesota Lynx

Lynx Team Up with Minneapolis Public Schools and General Mills to Establish 'Lynx Fit' Program

July 27, 2009 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Minnesota Lynx News Release


MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Lynx, Minneapolis Public Schools and General Mills are partnering through ‘Lynx Fit,' a four-week program to educate youth on the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle.

With the help of Lynx players, staff and General Mills employees, students at the Bryn Mawr Elementary School summer school program site are learning about healthy eating, physical fitness and the importance of reading and education. As part of the program, the students attended the Lynx Kids Day Game versus the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, July 15th.

"We're honored to partner with Minneapolis Public Schools and General Mills on this wonderful and powerful program to educate youth on the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle," said Conrad Smith, Lynx Chief Operating Officer. "Eating healthy, staying physically fit and understanding proper nutrition are all vital to living healthy and we're really enjoying educating the students of the Bryn Mawr Elementary summer program on these essential life lessons."

Highlights of the four-week program include:

- Fitness Week: General Mills employees and Lynx Fit staff taught the students about the health benefits of being fit. Through fun, interactive games, Lynx players showed students how they can stay active and fight incidence of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

- Read to Achieve Week: Lynx Fit staff spoke to students about their love for reading and the importance of working hard to be a good student. Students at the "rookie" level (Grades K-1) received a copy of "Anna Goes Hiking," one of the books from the Bur Bur and Friends series, given to the students and written by local authors JoAnne Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons. The students hit the trails with Anna and her parents to discover the great outdoors on a nature hike before reading and writing a short book report about the book. Additionally, each student received a ticket to the Lynx Kids Day game on Wednesday, July 15.

- Nutrition Week: Lynx Fit staff and General Mills employees used the Food Pyramid to teach students healthy eating habits. Lynx players taught kids how to prepare healthy snacks and encourage them to make good nutritional choices at home.

- Program Wrap Up/Lynx Day: During the final week of camp, Lynx staff, players, and coaches will attend a designated 'Lynx Day', which will be this Wednesday, July 29 at the Minneapolis Public Schools summer school site. Lynx players Roneeka Hodges, Tasha Humphrey and Rashanda McCants will discuss the importance of teamwork, motivation and setting goals. The four-week program will conclude with an outdoor festival that will feature basketball clinics, interactive games and contests.

"It's great that two superb organizations are helping us make learning about fitness and nutrition fun and exciting for the children," said Daren Johnson, Minneapolis Public Schools' District Program Facilitator.

"General Mills is excited about this new partnership that continues our long-term commitment to helping youth across our community learn the skills they need for a lifetime of eating healthy and staying physically fit," said Ellen Goldberg Luger, executive director of the General Mills Foundation and a General Mills vice president. Since 2002, General Mills has invested more than $18 million in overall youth nutrition and fitness programs that have served more than 3.5 million youth nationwide."

For more information on the Lynx Fit campaign and its involvement with Minneapolis Public Schools and General Mills, please visit www.lynxbasketball.com/community.

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