Morinville has once again cleaned up at the provincial ChooseWell awards, netting itself fat cash for helping residents to stay fit.
The Town of Morinville announced last week that it had won two awards under the province’s Communities ChooseWell program. The awards come with a $2,000 grant.
Established in 2005, the ChooseWell program aims to create healthy, active communities throughout Alberta. The program is backed by Alberta Health and the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association and involves about 180 communities.
Morinville was one of 28 communities recognized by the program this year, said spokesperson Lisa McLaughlin, winning in the Overall High Achiever and Providing Health Education categories. About 39 awards were given out.
“They’re doing a lot in the community to provide opportunities for residents to be healthy,” McLaughlin said of Morinville, especially with their work to improve the town’s trail system.
She also praised Morinville’s Melonie Dziwenka for leading the push for fitness in town. “The work that’s happened couldn’t have taken place without at least one person being a catalyst and getting things rolling.”
This is the second year that Morinville has won a ChooseWell award, said Dziwenka, the town’s town community programs co-ordinator – the town won two in 2011.
“This year we really looked at focusing on the family,” Dziwenka said. The town had done a lot to promote healthy eating and fitness to young athletes, but hadn’t addressed the families of those athletes who were in the stands eating plates of poutine.
And it was a lot of poutine – a typical serving at the Ray MacDonald arena’s concession stand was big enough for three adults. “I’ve worked in the concession … and I was embarrassed sometimes handing out this plate that was a mountain of fries and cheese and gravy.”
The concession did offer healthier items like soups and sandwiches, Dziwenka said, but they cost more than twice as much as fries and gravy, giving cash-strapped families a disincentive to eat right.
The town has revamped its menus at its facilities this year to offer healthier choices, Dziwenka said. Soups and sandwiches are now cheaper, and the poutine is now smaller. They’ve set an overall goal of making at least 20 per cent of their concession items healthy and affordable.
The town also launched new family-focused fitness programs such as strollercise, parent/child cooking classes, and healthy eating tips for hockey parents.
The $2,000 grant will help support next year’s fitness programs, Dziwenka said, which should include a healthy workplace initiative.
It all comes back to the family and long-term health, she said of these efforts. “When we’re feeling better, we tend to volunteer more, we give back to our community and we’re more active. I just think it’s a benefit for the community as a whole.”
The ChooseWell awards will be handed out Nov. 29. Visit arpaonline.ca/program/choosewell for the list of winners.
