Awareness and appreciation were the goals of an Adaptive Art exhibit late last month at The Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel. The GFWC New Tampa Woman’s Club adopted the New Tampa Family YMCA’s Adaptive Art program as a philanthropic project this year and hosted the awareness exhibit.

You can call it a successful kick-start to healthier behaviors for hundreds of Tampa Bay area families. Nearly 2,000 children, teens and adults got moving and learning together late last month for Healthy Kids Day.

Celebrated locally at Curtis Hixon Park on Saturday, April 27th, Healthy Kids Day is the Y’s national initiative to help families get a jump on creating a healthier summer, which is a critical out-of-school time for children’s health. Research shows without access to out-of-school physical and learning activities, kids fall behind academically and gain weight twice as fast during summer than the school year. Healthy Kids Day helped parents start thinking early about what their kids need to grow and achieve all summer long.