Andrews University Celebrates Black History Month

Andrews University in Berrien Springs has a series of lectures, performances and other events celebrating Black History month. Berrien Springs is proud to be the second home of The Greatest, Muhammed Ali. Mr. Ali once said:

"Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong."

For the full listing of activities, see the Benton Spirit at:

www.bentonspiritnews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=204&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=2975&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1935&hn=bentonspiritnews&he=.com

Kellogg Foundation helps fight child obesity

Kellogg Foundation helps fight child obesity

From the Battle Creek Enquirer:

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is supporting a new effort led by First Lady Michelle Obama to combat childhood obesity.

Her campaign launched Tuesday when President Barack Obama signed a memorandum creating a task force on childhood obesity.

"Our current generation is actually on track to have a shorter lifespan than their parents," Michelle Obama said at a Tuesday press briefing at the White House.

Because one in three American children is overweight, or at risk of becoming overweight, "We have to act, so let's move," she said.

Sterling Speirn, president and chief executive officer of the Battle Creek-based philanthropic organization, said the Kellogg Foundation will commit its expert knowledge and financial resources to the First Lady's Let's Move challenge.

"Let's Move is a campaign that's going to rally our nation to achieve a single but very ambitious goal: to solve childhood obesity in a generation," Michelle Obama said.

To keep the initiative running even after the Obamas leave the White House, the First Lady said a new, independent, nonpartisan organization will be created to meet four goals set by the coalition:

• Offering parents the tools and information they need,

• Getting healthier food in schools,

• Ensuring all families have access to healthy and affordable food,

• Increasing opportunities for kids to be physically active both in and out of school.

Read the full article:

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20100210/NEWS01/2100322/1002/Kellogg-

Childhood obesity is an epidemic that affects Americans across the spectrum of race, class and income. However, it can disproportionately affect those who live in poverty. Born into a culture that already doesn't value health as highly as it should, low-income families are further disadvantaged because they lack access to healthy foods and health care.

According to a study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, income is a higher predictor of health than genetics. In a study called "The Poor Pay More," researchers write about the widespread impact of the well-being of the poor on our society as a whole:

There are many reasons to be concerned about the well-being of the poor. Poverty limits the ability of individuals to fully participate in society; they miss out on the benefits of such participation as does society as a whole. Poverty’s effects spread within families and across generations and require social expenditures that take resources from other areas.

We also now see that the effects of poverty go beyond social and economic concerns and are felt on the body as well. The notion that the “poor pay more” extends to their bodies as well. In an endless cycle, we have an endgame in which poverty begets poor health and poor health can lead to poverty.

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It is not enough to simply acknowledge that poverty robs some of us of good health and weakens us as a country. Much is known about the potential for national policies, and related policies at the state and local level, to break the links between poverty and poor health. Applying such knowledge is a critical step in improving the health of our nation.

Read the full study here:

http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/thepoorpaymore2009.pdf

Kalamazoo's north side will have a new grocery store in 2010

According to the director of the Northside Association for Community Development, Kalamazoo's north side will have a new grocery store in 2010.


From the City of Kalamazoo:

Director Mattie Jordan-Woods said local officials have received at least six responses to a recent request-for-proposals for a new store to replace a Felpausch grocery that closed in May.

Jordan-Woods declined comment on when a search committee could announce its selection for a new tenant for the vacant store at 512 N. Park St.

"Without a doubt, there will be a grocery store there in 2010," she said. "But we know we have to take our time and do it right. This could be our last chance to get a store in there."

The north side currently has no store that offers fresh fruits, vegetables and other produce to residents in the area. They have to drive either to Portage, Oshtemo or the east side in order to purchase groceries in quantity.

After the previous store, Feldpausch, closed last year, the only options left were quick-shop stores - which often package overpriced, salty and fatty alternatives. Acquiring a grocery store in the region will help residents live healthier lives, while allowing them to spend less on food and transportation.

Read the full article:

http://www.ci.kalamazoo.mi.us/portal/business.php?news_id=157

United Way and Kalamazoo Community Foundation to offer a $4 Million "lifeline" for needy residents

United Way and Kalamazoo Community Foundation to offer a $4 Million "lifeline" for needy residents

From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Major individual and family donors to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the Greater Kalamazoo United Way will contribute an additional $4 million over the next three years to provide a “lifeline” to Kalamazoo County residents who lack food, shelter and medical care.

In what is likely a first in Michigan, the two charitable fundraising organizations announced today that a quiet campaign launched last summer will provide $2 million this year and $1 million in both 2011 and 2012 to local non-profits that will use the money to provide basic human needs.

The $4 million is in addition to money the donors have committed to the foundation and United Way over the next several years, said Michael J. Larson, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Kalamazoo United Way.

Olivarez said the first round of funding should be out in the community by May 1.

The two charity leaders said Kalamazoo County’s human toll in the sharp economic downturn shifted the emphasis for this program from creating long-term sustainability to providing immediate relief.

“We’ve been looking at programs that help people become employable, to get jobs, that help them learn how to fish (to be self-sustaining),” Olivarez said. “Right now we realize a lot of people just need a fish. Both of those things have to happen, but this piece is to get that fish out now to the people who are hungry.”

For more information on donating to Lifeline Initiative, contact:

Mark Crail
Greater Kalamazoo United Way
mcrail@gkuw.org
(269) 343-2524, ext. 226
or
Ann Fergemann
Kalamazoo Community Foundation
afergemann@kalfound.org
(269) 381-4416

Tax-deductible donations may be made payable to either organization, with the designation “Lifeline Initiative” on the check. Send to:

Kalamazoo Community Foundation
151 S. Rose St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
or
Greater Kalamazoo United Way
709 S. Westnedge Ave.
Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Read the Full Article:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/02/4_million_will_become_a_lifeli.html

Cass County Pre-School Advocate is Concerned About Possible Program Cuts

According to the Dowagiac Daily News, "the 2009 Kids Count in Michigan Data Book was released last month and revealed some alarming trends in Cass County. Possibly most concerning, Cass County ranks 77th out of 78 counties surveyed in high school dropout percentage at 21.3 percent."

Cass County "infant mortality and infants receiving less than adequate prenatal care are also on the rise and well above the state average."

Heather Merrill, the county's Great Start Readiness Coordinator, "is worried about further state cuts for early childhood development programs. The Cass County Great Start Readiness Program was nearly cut last year but was reinstated in the final hour. Merrill is concerned it could be on the chopping block again soon."

For more information see:

www.dowagiacnews.com/2010/02/04/great-start-concerned-about-cuts/

College Students Assisted by Food Banks

"At Michigan State University, there has been a 25% increase since 2008 in the number of students who visit its student-run food bank. Grand Valley State University opened a food pantry in April to help students as they struggle with higher tuition costs and families beset by layoffs and unemployment," per the Detroit Free Press.

For more information on how some colleges are helping students by opening food banks, see:

www.freep.com/article/20100206/NEWS06/2060324/1318/College-students-turning-to-schools-food-banks

Parents urged to help close literacy gap

From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Area school administrators and religious leaders are sending out a call to the community to address the literacy gap among African-American students in Kalamazoo Public Schools.

“We have to opportunity to save someone’s life tonight. It’s that important,” Kimberly Parker-DeVauld, principal of Lincoln International Studies Elementary School, said during a forum Wednesday. “It’s said that it takes a village to raise a child. We’re here to shock you into action.”

There will be a reading and writing clinic on February 22nd, from 6pm - 7:30pm and continuing every Monday thereafter. It will be held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 120 Robertson St., Kalamazoo and support Parents with children from kindergarten through age 8. Call (269) 760-7743 to sign up.

Read the full article hear:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/02/parents_urged_to_help_close_li.html

Hunger on the rise in southern Michigan

From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

A national report that says a growing number of Americans are in need of food also shows “hunger is increasing at an alarming rate” in an eight-county area that includes Kalamazoo County, according to the Food Bank of South Central Michigan.

The Food Bank, which serves more than 100,000 people a year in Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Hillsdale, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lenawee and St. Joseph counties through a network of food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and other organizations, on Tuesday released a report as part of a national Hunger in America 2010 study.

The report, produced every four years, is taken from 340 interviews with Food Bank of South Central Michigan clients and surveys of 233 of its feeding agencies.

From what many organizations have experienced out on the front lines, this is not something completely surprising. Times are dire and we need to continue to support the basic needs of our communities. Some interesting stats:

• 78 percent of all households served are food insecure, meaning its members don’t know where their next meal will come from.
• 44 percent of all households served have to choose between paying the utility bill/heat or getting food.
• 60 percent of all households have unpaid medical or hospital bills.

Read the full article:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/02/agency_says_hunger_is_on_the_r.html

Students plan to protest loss of Michigan Promise scholarship at State of the State address

From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

What's happening:

Nearly 5,000 college and high school students are expected to protest outside the Capitol the cutting of the Michigan Promise scholarship.

Ben Lazarus, a sophomore at Central Michigan University and founder of NoBrokenPromise.com, is spearheading the protest with the help of Common Sense in Government, a non-partisan group, and students from a number of major universities across the state.

“It’s hard to find leaders at the university level,” Lazarus said. “In Lansing, it’s tough to stand against both parties, but I felt it was my responsibility and I’ve been impressed with the response I’ve gotten from my fellow students.”

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“The message we’re pushing now is for students to call their legislators and tell them to boycott the State of the State address and listen to the real state of the state on the steps of the capitol building,” Lazarus said. “The stories of students and taxpayers, hardships because of their broken promises.”

They have created a Facebook page to rally support around the Michigan Promise. You can join it by clicking here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=115556985977

The Scholarship's impact on Michigan students:

Students at Grand Valley, such as sophomore Janelle Cranmer, know first-hand the difficulties caused by the lost scholarship money. GVSU students were billed $500.

“For some of us like myself, paying for next month’s rent and food is now in question,” Cranmer said.

Said GVSU senior Gregory Hatt, “I think because some students are suffering so much, that’s translating into a lot of motivation and drive to help rally other students and other people in the community that are upset.”

Read the full article:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/02/students_plan_to_protest_loss.html

Battle Creek Opens New Alano Club for Those in Recovery from Alcoholism or Addiction

"The (Battle Creek) Alano Club will hold a grand opening event from 1 to 4 p.m. (Sunday) at the Community Recovery Center, 1125 W. Territorial Rd. There will also be a Recovery Night featuring music, dancing, speakers, games and more beginning at 7 p.m."

Alano Clubs host 12-Step meetings and other activities for those involved in AA or NA or similar groups.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20100129/NEWS01/301290014/1002/NEWS01/New-Alano-building-opens-tomorrow