Elena is a fifth grader at Davis Elementary. Each afternoon Elena’s grandfather drops her off at the Northwest Hillsborough Family YMCA so she can participate in the Y’s afterschool running club. It’s something she just started this year, but already it’s changed her life. For starters, Elena’s running 1 ¼ miles two to three days a week. She’s also competing in running events, recently completing her first 5K in which she beat her best mile time by three minutes. 

Kids at the Bob Sierra Youth & Family Center are getting schooled in healthy eating.

The kids, ages 5 to 12, participate in the Bob Sierra Y’s afterschool program where they’re learning how to make healthy meals they can re-create at home. Techniques, such as using apple sauce instead of baking oil, incorporating whole grains into menus, avoiding trans fats, adding fruits and vegetables to recipes and trading in soda for water, are teaching about 300 kids how to live healthier lives.