Dear Mayor:

I am writing to call your attention to an exciting new initiative which we recently launched in cooperation with the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute and Rutgers University.

The “Mayors Wellness Campaign” (MWC) promises to provide local leaders such as yourself with the tools you need to promote better health and more active lifestyles in your community.  I recently joined with Department of Health and Senior Services Commissioner Fred Jacobs, M.D., J.D. and others at a State House press conference to announce this new program.  The Mayors Wellness Campaign was also featured at our annual conference in Atlantic City.

The Mayors Wellness Campaign supports Mayors as champions of community health.  The goal of the campaign is to improve health, reduce health care costs related to obesity, and make New Jersey a national leader in community-based health interventions. Through a public-private partnership of civic, academic, and health policy advocates, the MWC seeks to foster active living and healthy lifestyles by providing communities the structure and resources to implement healthy community initiatives.

The MWC is an initiative of the NJ Health Care Quality Institute in partnership with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University.  A major founding grant was provided by Aetna, Inc., with additional funding from the NJ Department of Transportation and Johnson & Johnson.  The MWC was created in association with the Regional Plan Association, New Jersey State League of Municipalities and the Ramapo College Nursing Program, a joint degree program with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ (UMDNJ).

You will be hearing more about the Mayors Wellness Campaign in the weeks and months ahead.  It is my hope that you will take an active leadership role in your community to help get this worthwhile effort off the ground.

I am enclosing a fact sheet on the MWC for you review.  Also, please see our website (www.njslom.com) for periodical updates. Please feel free to contact me directly should you wish to discuss this initiative further.