By Shannon Holmes
July 26, 2004

In response to the alarming increases in cardio vascular disease and diabetes among children due to lack of exercise and poor nutrition, City of Hawthorne Mayor Larry Guidi formed a partnership with the South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB), and Gold's Gym to work with educators, businesses and community organizations to launch Fit for Gold: Healthy Mind and Body Youth Fitness Academy. Fit for Gold will help young people improve their minds and bodies through academic enrichment and physical fitness activities, and links with the California State Legislature's Taskforce on Youth and Workplace Wellness in 2002, to promote better health outcomes for California's children and communities.

According to the Center for Disease Control, 64 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Even more alarming is the dramatic rise in the number of children and teens that are overweight, which has tripled in the past 20 years, to more than 9 million youth. One in every three children now being born in the U.S. ultimately will become diabetic.

In the spirit of true community support and concern for the youth in the Hawthorne area, Mayor Larry Guidi; Jan Vogel, Executive Director of the South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB); and Steve Tavera, President of the Gold's Gym in Redondo Beach and Hawthorne, culminated a "Kick Off" activity for the youth directed Fit for Gold program.

During the program Hawthorne Mayor Larry Guidi stated, "I am so pleased that we are all working together to assist our youth in their personal development. Anything that we can do to improve the academic skills and physical well being of our future adults is important. I really feel that this program will serve as a model for other areas in California or even the Nation."

According to Jan Vogel, Executive Director of the SBWIB, Fit for Gold comes from a successful pilot program for tutoring and homework assistance operated in partnership with the Hawthorne and Lawndale School Districts last fall. "Expanding the program to include other schools and cities, and new activities to improve nutrition and fitness, is a natural next step in light of the urgency of this issue," remarked Vogel.

Steve Tavera, President of Gold's Gym in Redondo Beach and Hawthorne, has a long history of supporting a variety of community efforts. Tavera has committed Gold's Gym/Hawthorne to become a partner in the SBWIB's Fit For Gold Program. Gold's Gym will train high school students to conduct fun, age-appropriate exercise activities in after'school programs for elementary school-age children. "We support this initiative 100 percent. We believe that an investment in helping kids stay mentally and physically fit today is important for healthy, successful lives in the future," stated Tavera.

Forty-two students from high schools in the cities of Inglewood, Hawthorne, and Lawndale, have completed their mentoring training program to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to work with more than 600 younger youth, primarily in the 3rd to 6th grade levels.

"This program is so exciting, and something the younger kids in the area really need," stated one of the high school students attending the beginning of the Fit for Gold training series.

The high school mentors have been trained in three special areas. The first is Healthy Food, how to read and understand fool labels, what the food groups mean, and how to eat healthy. The second is Home Work Assistance and Development of Positive Esteem, offering the mentors training on how to provide instruction for basic academic skills, like reading and math, and how to work with the youth in the development of a more positive self-image and esteem. Very important to today's youth, is the third area, which is training in the areas of Basic Exercise and Fitness Programs.

Jan Vogel remarked, "The SBWIB is always pleased to be able to support programs to help the youth in our community. We are all focused on our youth and how to help them improve themselves, as they experience the many things life has to offer."