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Health & Fitness

HCI funds five "Investing in Youth" grants to benefit area youth

At their July and August 2013 board meetings, the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Board approved grants to support five projects and activities designed to benefit Northfield youth.  The projects are all funded through HCI’s Investing in Youth grants program.

Funded projects included:

Get to Know Minnesota History!
The Northfield Historical Society and the Northfield Public Library are partnering to offer a 12-week program this fall aimed at youth, ages 6-12.  “Minnesota History Players” from the Minnesota Historical Society will theatrically portray historical figures from Minnesota’s past and share a wide representative sample of Minnesota’s extensive history.  A History Player will come in every two weeks, and the event will alternate between the Northfield Public Library and the Northfield Historical Society.

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2013 Northfield Farm Bike Tour
Area college students are planning a community bike tour of eight local farms.  This second annual event will again include interactive, educational, and kid-friendly activities at each farm.  Following the bike tour, there will be a Harvest Festival with live music at the SEEDS Farm, just south of Northfield.  The Farm Bike Tour is scheduled for Saturday, September 28th.

Building Citizen Scientists
Youth from local environmental clubs plan to create and maintain two new bird feeding sites near local elementary schools.  They will also maintain the existing bird feeder site at the Northfield Middle School.  These sites will be used by each school’s environmental club to collect data about Minnesota’s native birds.  High school and college students will help gather and analyze the data.  At the end of the school year, all of the environmental clubs will meet to review the information and to share this information with other groups around the country.

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Northfield Kitchen Scientists
Firebellies” is a student-run cooking club at Carleton College.  The students of this club are planning a program to teach area middle school youth the basics of cooking while empowering them with knowledge and skills they can use to make healthy food-related choices.  Through hands-on cooking experiments, students will learn scientific concepts while building meaningful relationships with Carleton students. The program will also include field trips to the college and to local farms, facilitating numerous opportunities for youth to connect with the local community.

Community Soccer Night
This is a family-friendly event for the entire community, where those attending are invited to enjoy lawn games, fun competitions, and live music.  Northfield High School soccer players and coaches will be present to promote enthusiasm for the game of soccer and support for the Northfield High School Soccer Team.

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HCI offers Investing in Youth grants to projects and activities that:

  • provide the opportunity for young people to develop positive intergenerational relationships with caring adults and/or
  • connect Northfield youth with their communities (ex. neighborhood, school, wider Northfield)

Applications are reviewed monthly and are due by the 8th of the month.  Visit www.northfieldhci.org/investinginyouthgrants for more information and to access the easy-to-complete application.

Funding for the HCI Investing in Youth grants program comes from the Northfield Hospital & Clinics, Northfield Area United Way, MMIC Health IT, and Allina Medical Clinic-Northfield.



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