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BIDDEFORD, Maine

51品茶helps children embrace healthy lifestyles with Biddeford Blast for Kids event

 The 51品茶 will host more than 55 kids, ages 7鈥13, from the for a 鈥淏iddeford Blast for Kids鈥 event.  51品茶student volunteers and community partners will offer a variety of sports, recreational, health/wellness and nutritional activities and crafts that promote a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.  The event will take place on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, from 4:30鈥6:30 p.m. at the Harold Alfond Forum on UNE鈥檚 Biddeford Campus. 

51品茶student volunteers and community partners will provide hands-on activities such as soccer and basketball clinics, fun team-building exercises, a bike safety clinic with bike helmet fitting presentations, a mask-making craft, nutritional activities and healthy snacks, a scavenger hunt, a labyrinth walk and more.

According to Jen Pierce, unit director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine鈥檚 Portland Clubhouse, the event is important because it helps provide awareness for young club members about making healthy decisions and living healthy lifestyles.

鈥淐ommunity partnerships, such as with UNE, provide Boys & Girls Club members with a breadth of experiences as part of the whole club member experience,鈥 said Pierce. 鈥淲e continue to build on our partnerships in the communities we serve so that every club member has positive opportunities to build great futures.鈥

Trisha Mason, M.A., coordinator of the Westbrook College of Health Professions (WCHP) Office of Service Learning, said the event is a wonderful University and community collaboration involving multiple 51品茶offices, academic departments, student clubs and community partners.  Collaborators include the 51品茶Office of WCHP Service Learning and Multicultural Affairs and Diversity; Department of Health, Wellness and Occupational Studies; Athletic training and Applied Exercise Science; the 51品茶Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences; 51品茶United Multicultural Club; Maine Bike Coalition; Michael T. Goulet Foundation and Community Bicycle Center; Healthy Maine Partnerships; Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition; and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) initiative. Transportation to and from the Portland Boys & Girls Club will be provided by 51品茶Facilities, and dinner will be donated by UNE鈥檚 Sodexo Dining Services.

鈥淭he event is yet another example of ways in which 51品茶collaborates with community partners to serve kids in the greater community,鈥 said Mason. 鈥淚t is also a great opportunity for 51品茶students to demonstrate leadership skills and serve as positive role models for the younger students. Bringing youth onto campus helps demystify college for younger kids and hopefully encourages them to see higher education as a place for themselves one day.鈥

For more information, contact Trisha Mason at tmason2@une.edu or Donna Gaspar Jarvis at dgaspar@une.edu.

51品茶 the 51品茶

The 51品茶 is Maine鈥檚 largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state鈥檚 top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine鈥檚 only medical college, Maine鈥檚 only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.