Y gets folks outside for Healthy Kids Day
On May 1, the Greater Holyoke YMCA hosted its fifth annual Healthy Kids Day, but this time the YMCA took the event out of its building and into the community using Crosier Field in Holyoke as its venue. Mountain View Landscaping, Holyoke Gas and Electric and Ross Insurance sponsored this year's event, making it free for the more than 350 attendees.
The event kicked off at noon with a gift of $10,000 from Federal Express to Safe Kids Western Massachusetts. This donation will be used to help continue to create safer crosswalks in the city that will include both hand and audible traffic signals at some of the busiest intersections.
Professor Laura Hutchinson and her Holyoke Community College nutrition education students prepared a number of healthy snacks. The HCC students spent the semester learning about food content and how it impacts one's health, and the kids attending who sampled the offerings surprised themselves with how much they liked these tasty but simple creations. An example of a simple recipe offered was one small piece of celery with peanut butter inside topped with dried cranberries.
