| Perspectives: Change Is in the Air | |
 | | Sheree Vodicka, AHA Director |
The calendar says summer for a few days yet, but it sure feels like fall to me. The mornings and evenings are cooler, the days are a little shorter, and the trees are starting to look like they've had enough.
But with change comes new opportunity.
As the weather cools to a comfortable temperature and lower humidity, promote these upcoming and ongoing events to your constituents--be they parents, employees or your own social networks. And be sure to take advantage of some of these opportunities yourself!
Read Sheree's full Perspectives article on AHA's web site.
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| AHA Web Site Gets a Makeover | |
Have you visited AHA's newly redesigned web site with a new menu structure and navigation, along with updated graphics?
We realized that AHA's mission wasn't clear on our former site, so we have that front and center on every page, and we created some action-oriented tabs, since after all, we are all about action here.Here are just a few other highlights:
- We added new resources to our site, such as obesity statistics and plenty of advocacy tools to help you Make a Difference within your organization or school, at the local, state or federal level when appropriate.
- We also reorganized many of the resources so that you can access them more easily, and we're pleased to showcase the partners in the AHA collaborative more prominently. You can even subscribe to our calendar, for which we regularly add AHA and community and national observances of interest.
- We'll continue to post blog articles on our home page, and news updates with timely information from our partners and others, so please bookmark the site and visit often!
If you have any feedback for us on the site, please let us know!
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| Watch for Me: Pedestrian Safety Campaign |
 | | This is one of the Watch for Me, NC safety campaign posters. |
We are all pedestrians at some point, whether we're walking to the bus stop, through a crowded parking lot, or around your neighborhood. We all share the responsibility of making North Carolina a safe and place to walk.
With one in four crashes occurring at an intersection or driveway, we all need to be thinking about safety.
Check out an article on the new Watch for Me, NC safety campaign underway in our area. Thanks to Jennifer Baldwin, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator with the City of Raleigh, for sharing this information!
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| NC Bicycle Summit |
Advocates, planners, government officials are invited to the innaugural NC Bicycle Summit in Raleigh on Oct. 12-13.
Speakers and workshops will offer opportunities to network and learn from others across the state about local and regional initiatives covering topic areas such as education and public outreach, health and recreation, on-road and off-road facility design and engineering, economic development and creative funding sources. Plus, roundtables will provide an opportunity to discuss:
- NC Policy Initiatives
 | | Bike sharrow in Raleigh: This sharrow painted on the road shows drivers and bicyclists to share the road. |
- Local/Statewide Bike-Ped Coordinator Professional Networking
- Greenway and Trail Development
Details on the summit, agenda and speakers are available from the NC Active Transportation Alliance, plus registration is now open.
What's a Sharrow?
Check out yesterday's article in the News & Observer about how bikes share the road and technologies to help cyclists cross the road safely.
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| Cause for Celebration...and Education |
 | | Is your school planning a Walk to School Day event? Contact AHA and share your plans with us! Or if you're short on time, start planning Bike to School Day now..it's in May! |
The calendar is filled with special weeks and months that have been designated to recognize certain causes. Schools, churches, youth-serving organizations and yes, even workplaces, have an opportunity to highlight and educate about healthy lifestyles in a fun and engaging way through such observances.
Our calendar features events and websites to help your school or organization brainstorm ways to showcase these events and resources for promoting and planning fun activities. Use the calendar as a planner throughout the year to keep healthy lifestyles as a focus! |
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 AHA fosters and supports community efforts to make healthy eating and physical activity the way of life in Wake County. Simply put, we are working to make the healthy choice the easy choice!
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AHA Partner in the Spotlight:
The Produce Box
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All over Wake County, seasonal fruits and vegetables grown by North Carolina farmers are delivered to families' doors each week.
Thanks to The Produce Box, families have convenient access to healthy, local produce!
Learn more about
how this AHA partner is getting more
NC produce from
farm to fork!
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Team Snack Packs for CASL Players
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Pediatricians and researchers agree... young athletes need to refuel with fresh fruit and water. This New York Times article "For Young Athletes, Good Reasons to Break the Fast Food Habit," highlights a national trend to celebrate sports with fast food and a need to change the habit.
AHA's Sport Snack Game Plan
is a tool all youth sports teams can use to encourage team parents to pack healthy snacks. Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) is again teaming up with AHA to support healthy snacking
this year.
Learn more about:
Thanks to the community partners working to change the sports snacking habit here in Wake County!
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AHA friends and tweets!
Join our social networks for timely updates on AHA news, healthy eating and being active here in Wake County!
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