Wednesday May 6, 2009
Lincoln woman’s fundraiser puts kids on their feet.
All Mindee Myers was trying to do four years ago was find an alternative to the traditional school fundraiser. Something besides selling a bunch of stuff that nobody really wanted but bought to support their kids’ school. And if the kids could get some exercise, all the better.
So she swore off cookie dough and trinkets and wrapping paper and created a walk-a-thon. She had no inkling that four years later her idea would take her to New York City, that she’d spend Tuesday afternoon chatting with former President Bill Clinton and answering questions posed by Rachael Ray.
“It’s been a very surreal day,” Myers said Tuesday from O’Hare Airport in Chicago. No doubt.
It started Monday, when she boarded a plan in Omaha and landed in New York. It continued when she had her hair and makeup done in a television studio Tuesday morning and chatted with a former U.S. president about his Facebook page – and childhood obesity.
Then the wildness continued, as she sat on the set of the “Rachael Ray Show” answering questions from the host, then rode in a Cadillac to Clinton’s offices in Harlem to tape a Mother’s Day message for his organization.
Which brings us back to that fundraiser, which the Alliance For a Healthier Generation thought was a good enough idea that it should get some nationally syndicated recognition. The alliance, a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William, J. Clinton Foundation, works to prevent childhood obesity and promote healthier lifestyles for children. Campbell Elementary has been working with the alliance since last year.
A film crew for Ray’s show came to Campbell Elementary on Friday to film and interview students for a 90-second spot that will air Thursday during Myers’ appearance on the 9 a.m. talk show on Channel 7.
During Myers conversation with Clinton, he told her he believes childhood obesity is one of those national problems that can be solved at a grassroots level. Like at the Mindee Myers level. As an example, here’s what happened at Campbell:
Myers, who was heading up the PTO fundraiser four years ago decided to try something new. “I got tired of my kids being sales reps for companies,” she said. The walk-a-thon was a great success the first year, and the school put in a walking track. Participants have raised between $14,000-$16,000 a year, and parents and grandparents join in the annual walk. It also prompted school officials to make sure the track was used regularly. So at the beginning of recess, all the kids now take a lap. P.E. teacher Sally Connell tracks their miles on a map in the school cafeteria.
“It’s just turned into this big deal,” Principal Rosie Molvar said. “Once we decided to get a walking track, then we wanted to ensure kids were using it. That’s really what it was all about: developing it into a habit.”
Myers, who got home Tuesday evening, said she had a fabulous time, though that wasn’t the main point. “If it helps promote Campbell and the great things they’re doing there. That’s my main priority.”
By Margaret Reist-Lincoln Journal Star