Earlier this month, AKASPORT held its first official fundraiser with the AKA Spaghetti Scholarship Dinner (February 4) (thanks Renee Beaman, AKA Events!). AKASPORT has created FUNDraisers for over a decade with programs, camps and Community Appreciation Events with great success, but make no doubt about it, it is time to get more serious and create truly positive FUNDraisers.

*Dean Downs, AKA DJ Deanomite, and some happy dancers at the AKA Spaghetti Scholarship Dinner Event - 2016*

The first step in creating FUNDraisers is establishing the why and the what are we raising money for. Quite simply, we have a mission to providing Active programs for more kids and families whether they can or cannot afford such programming.

So to prove my point with numbers and to hopefully grab people's attention, prior to the event, I gathered select statistics from the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (see below). Have a look and feel free to add comments or other glaring statistics you think are relevant to our cause.

*Charlie and Jackson taking aim with Mr. Jack and the AKA Archery Week - 2015*

Selected bullets from the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (2010-2015 studies)

Physical Activity

(2010) Children now spend more than seven and a half hours a day in front of a screen (e.g., TV, videogames, computer).Think what that number is up to now with the greater abundance of smart phones, tablets and greater sensationalism of video games!!7
(2011) Nearly one-third of high school students play video or computer games for 3 or more hours on an average school day.24
(2015/2016) Only about one in five homes have parks within a half-mile, and about the same number have a fitness or recreation center within that distance. Coon Rapids has 48 parks and 40 miles of trails…Bikes!!5
(2014) 28.0% of Americans, or 80.2 million people, aged six and older are physically inactive.23

Nutrition statistics
I don’t even touch this one...leave that to the the Nutrition experts and to Geri and Healthy Bites. My take on Nutrition is to cut down on sugar and don't eat after 8:00pm if possible.

Obesity

(2011) Recent reports project that by 2030, half of all adults (115 million adults) in the United States will be obese.12
(2015) For children with disabilities, obesity rates are approximately 38% higher than for children without disabilities. It gets worse for the adult population where obesity rates for adults with disabilities are approximately 57% higher than for adults without disabilities.15
(2010) Nearly 45% of children living in poverty are overweight or obese compared with 22% of children living in households with incomes four times the poverty level.16
Obesity among children in the United States has remained flat - at around 17% - in 2003-2004 and 2011-2012.25
Between 2003 and 2012, obesity among children between 2 and 5 years of age has declined from 14% to 8% - a 43% decrease in just under a decade.25
Obesity rates in children 6 to 11 years old have decreased from 18.8% in 2003-2004 to 17.7% in 2011-2012; obesity rates for children 12 to 19 years old have increased from 17.4% to 20.5% in the same time period.25

Human and Financial Costs of Inactivity > Obesity

(2012) Obesity-related illness, including chronic disease, disability, and death, is estimated to carry an annual cost of $190.2 billion.17
(2010) Projections estimate that by 2018, obesity will cost the U.S. 21 percent of our total healthcare costs - $344 billion annually.18
(2009) The medical care costs of obesity in the United States are staggering. In 2008 dollars, these costs totaled about $147 billion.26

*AKASPORT working out on the floor at Target Center with MN Lynx Basketball Staff - 2013*

The Numbers tell the story...

Stay up to date on all things AKA!