Calling Minnesota-Based Youth Programs!

The Säjai Foundation is awarding scholarships towards any Wise Kids® program kit to Minnesota-based organizations with an afterschool or summer camp program. These turnkey programs provide your staff with all the training, tools, activities, and materials needed to implement a fun and exciting program. Five kits will be awarded in total. The application deadline is February 29, 2012. Please contact Amy Rea at amy@sajaifoundation.org with any questions.

You can find more details and application information by visiting our Grants and Scholarships page.

We urge you to let us know if you are interested in the Wise Kids program for your kids and to sign up for our mailing list (the contact form on the left), as we will send out information about upcoming scholarships in the future.

Sajai Foundation on FOX 9

On Jan. 12, Foundation CEO/President Melissa Hanson was featured on a segment of FOX 9 news about helping kids find healthy balance in their lives. Check out the video!

 

Anti-Obesity Expert: Calories Are Not Evil: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

Good News/Bad News

2011 has definitely been a good news/bad news kind of year.

On the good side:
• Nearly 4,000 kids participated in our programs this year
• We’re in more than 40 states across the U.S.
• Our first-ever Amazing Walk! was a fun-filled event
• Our supporters helped us earn a matching grant of $10,000 on Give to the Max Day

Unfortunately, it isn’t all good news. We recently learned that we lost a major funder that would have allowed us to continue teaching kids about healthy lives through our Wise Kids programs.

So we have to ask—will you help us? Right now, we’re only 20% of the way the to our Gift Catalog goal of $10,000 to continue working towards our goal of teaching kids about healthy foods, being active, and exploring and learning to love nature. Please consider a year-end donation.

As we learned on Give to the Max Day, it doesn’t matter if the donations are small or large—together, every donation makes all the difference in helping us fight childhood obesity and nature deficit disorder. Plus, donations done via our Gift Catalog not only help kids—they help you with your holiday gift-giving, as you can give in honor of friends or family.

Visit our Gift Catalog to see how your gifts are used, and to help us meet our year-end goal.

Thank you–and our warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season to you and yours!

 

How to Indulge During the Holidays

Think you read that headline wrong? Not at all! At the Säjai Foundation, we teach kids not to deprive themselves, but to approach everything in moderation–which means, with planning and thought, you can have some treats during the holidays. The idea of energy balance is to make sure that energy in (calories from food and drink) is balanced with energy out (calories burned through daily living and physical activity). Obviously, the more healthfully you eat, the better you’ll feel; but a Christmas cookie here and there won’t ruin your health, as long as you find ways to balance it.

Here are some great tips from Dr. Dean Ornish of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute.

1. Eat something beforehand. If you don’t eat all day, you may arrive at holiday meals and parties ravenous and lose control.

2. Put 20 percent fewer high-calorie foods and 20 percent more fruits and vegetables on your plate. Studies show that you probably won’t notice the difference.

3. Eat the healthier foods first – they will fill you up somewhat, so you’ll be less likely to overeat the more indulgent foods.

4. Choose foods that leave evidence – e.g., keep the shrimp tails and chicken wing bones on your plate after you’ve eaten them. Studies show that if you have cues to see how much you’ve eaten, you’ll eat less.

5. Try not to put more than two or three items on your plate at one time. We eat more when food is in front of us.

6. Eat more slowly. The faster we eat, the more we eat. Sip water between bites. Holiday meals last longer than typical meals. If you wolf down your food, your plate may be clean while others are still eating, which will lead to seconds.

7. If you have a choice, use a smaller plate!

8. If you’re at someone’s home, try to serve yourself instead of allowing your relative to heap your plate full.

9. Arrive a little late and make a grand entrance. More of the indulgent foods will be gone by then.

10. If you go to a restaurant, ask your server not to put bread on the table beforehand. If it’s there, you’ll probably eat it. Leave more room for your favorite holiday foods instead.

11. Substitute cranberry sauce for gravy, which is usually high in fat and calories. Cranberry sauce is nutritious and loaded with antioxidants.

12. If you eat baked potatoes and yams, avoid toppings such as butter, cheese, bacon and sour cream. If possible, substitute low-fat yogurt or nonfat sour cream.

13. Watch the alcohol, which is high in calories and slows your metabolism. Also, too much alcohol can impair judgment, so the more you drink, the more you’re likely to eat.

14. Close your eyes and savor the food periodically during the meal. You’ll consume fewer calories and experience more pleasure.

15. Have just a few bites of dessert. The first and last bites are always the best, anyway.

16. Take a walk after dinner. You don’t have to hike five miles. A stroll around the block is a good start. Walking not only burns calories, it also helps relieve bloating and prevent heartburn.

November 16, by the numbers

7 a.m.: 23 degrees. One walker, setting out.

One Säjaimobile, advertising the cause.

One happy dog, getting to go for a morning walk.

Two friends to help the time pass more quickly.

Four wonderful volunteers to walk a mile for Melissa as donations came in.

Säjai Foundation Program Development Manager Carrie Stolar

Supporter Paula Hari with Melissa

Säjai Foundation intern Kate Young, Melissa, Säjai Foundation Board of Directors Chairman Bob Bierscheid

One (very old) stray dog found and rescued by Melissa.

Emails rolling in, announcing donations: Too many to count.

One 5-mile bike ride gratefully received.

4:30 p.m. Temps barely in the 30s, wind gusting up to 30 mph.

Melissa crosses the finish line, 30 miles from her start.

One comfy chair, one large chai tea.

Final number on Melissa’s pedometer:

5:30 p.m. Donations reach $10,000–meaning that the matching donation of $10,000 is activated: $20,000 in one day, to teach even more kids about healthy living and exploring nature!

Total donations for Give to the Max Day: $12,520, plus the match of $10,000!

How many kids $22,520 can teach: Nearly 1,400.

Happiness at reaching the finish line, reaching the goal, seeing how ardently supporters embrace the Foundation’s mission: Unmeasurable.

And at the end of the day, one very tired dog.

Thank you doesn’t even begin to cover it. Just know that when we say “Thank you” to our supporters, volunteers, and donors, we mean it thousands and thousands of times over.

 

 

Tomorrow is not just another day

While you’re starting your day, having your morning coffee or tea, checking out the news headlines, taking kids to school, heading to work, running errands, whatever your calendar has noted for you, think about this:

On Wednesday, our CEO/President Melissa Hanson will set out from her home in Maple Grove to walk 30 miles to the Mall of America. All day, as you go through your day, she’ll be out there, making her way south to the headquarters of this year’s Give to the Max Day.

Why is she doing this? Because 1 child out of every 3 in the U.S. is overweight or obese.

Think about that–1 out of 3.

What can you do to support Melissa’s work?

1. Make a donation on Wed., Nov. 16 on our Give MN Page (click here). Donations made on Nov. 16 (and that day only) will be matched up to $10,000 by a generous anonymous donor. Not only that, but donations will help ease Melissa’s walk (click here to read how).
2. Besides being matched, every hour Give MN will select a random donor who’s given during that hour to receive a “Golden Ticket”–a bonus $1000 added to their charity. If you can, please consider donating multiple times throughout the day, to increase our chances of winning one of the Golden Tickets!
3. We’re also in the running for one of three prizes given to nonprofits who raise the most money. Your donation gets us one step closer to winning one of those prizes!

Finally, if you’d like to applaud the work we do and, specifically, the insane work Melissa is doing on Wednesday, please join us at the Mall of America, at the Rotunda near the ground floor East entrance, on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. as Melissa crosses the finish line and completes her Amazing Walk!

 

7 Days to 30 Miles

The countdown begins–it’s only one week until our CEO/President Melissa Hanson will set out from Maple Grove to walk to the Mall of America, a distance of 30 miles–her personal Amazing Walk.

Why is she doing this? To raise awareness of the dangers and prevalence of childhood obesity. You can find her thoughts on why raising awareness about childhood obesity is critical by clicking here.

You can also see the route she’s planned by clicking here. 

We really don’t want Melissa to have to walk the full 30 miles. Even for someone in great condition (which she is), that’s a lot to ask of the human body.

How Can You Help?

On Wed., Nov. 16, Minnesotans will participate in the third annual Give to the Max Day. Donations made via our Give MN page (on Nov. 16 only) will have two additional benefits:

• Donations up to $10,000 will be doubled by a generous anonymous donor
• Donations will take some of the burden off Melissa

How Will Donations Make Melissa’s Walk Easier?

• Every $500 raised, Melissa will get a 15-minute break to rest from her own Amazing Walk.
• Every $1,000 raised, Melissa will have a substitute walker for 1 mile while she rides in the van that will be following her throughout the day.
• Every $5,000 raised, Melissa will get a 5-mile bike ride.

What this means is that every donation will be doubled (up to $10,000), helping us teach even more kids about healthy living and exploring the outdoors, and as they accumulate, Melissa will get some much-needed relief.

Please consider making a donation on Nov. 16 to help us teach more kids about healthy living–and to help Melissa make her journey!

What We Also Need:

The walk ends at the Mall of America, as that’s where the Give to the Max Day headquarters are located. You know what we’d really love?

A huge crowd of supporters cheering Melissa across the finish line.

This will take place sometime late afternoon. We’ll have a more definite time as we get closer to the date, but right now we’re estimating around 5-5:30 p.m. If you could join us at the Mall around that time, please email Amy (amy@sajaifoundation.org) and let her know, so she can contact you with details as we get them.

If you can’t be at the Mall, but have some flexibility during the day, also let Amy know–there will be stops at coffee shops along the way, and it’d be wonderful to have people greet Melissa and give her lots of encouragement. (Especially if the weather is bad.) (Which we’re trusting won’t happen.)

We’re very excited about Nov. 16–please join us! 

Attention, Texas and Florida youth sites!

Don’t forget–Nov. 11 is the last day to apply for a scholarship for one of our Wise Kids programs! You can find the details by clicking here.

Getting Active Starts with Baby Steps

Physical activity is critical to our health. Long ago, before childhood obesity was a crisis, we were more active each day than we were sedentary. It’s no wonder that 75% of adults today are overweight or obese. Sadly, children are also more sedentary, less playful and now seeing serious weight side effects too. In fact, research tells us 25% aren’t active at all on most days! Well, being active is one of the biggest ways adults, and children, can reverse those trends.

Think about our own day. We sit in the car. We sit in our office. We sit to eat. We sit to communicate with friends via Facebook. Then, we sit to watch TV. By getting active, in any way, we can get rid of some of the excess calories we take in and begin to live a healthier life.

You may not feel like getting up and moving. I’m there with you some days too. But, we need to think of small ways to be active to build stamina. It’s kind of like learning to walk again, literally, or training a dog. You have to start with small efforts first because you can’t do it all in one day. You’ll get tired when you start. Five or ten minutes might be all you can handle at first. Maybe you want to garden; that’s physical activity, and bonus—you get something beautiful! Maybe you want to simply walk around the block. Pretty soon you’ll be good at that and can increase to two blocks or more.

With children, the same rules apply. If they’ve never been active, it’s too much to have them try to run a mile. They’ll fail or feel miserable, then not want to do it again. We also have to keep in mind that while we, as adults, truly need to set aside time to “work out” or consciously be active, kids don’t. They don’t need to work out. What they need is to play and have fun. That way, activity becomes enjoyable, not a chore. Making a game silly is a great way to start. Some kids—those we most need to encourage to be active—are afraid or shy because they aren’t all that coordinated. (Only because they haven’t had as much activity to gain those coordination skills.) So, encourage silliness like playing soccer with a beach ball or go on a scavenger hunt outside. They’ll be laughing and active at the same time.

We can take notes as adults. Don’t think of being active as a “workout”. Find something silly or fun that gets you moving (dancing is great for that) and do it 5-10 minutes at first. Even better, find time to walk with a friend. You can eliminate the need to sit down to Facebook them AND be active at the same time!

–Melissa Hanson, Säjai Foundation CEO/President