For Immediate Release
June 27, 2006
Contact:  Ann McDonald 609-393-4931

FIRST ELEVEN NEW JERSEY MUNICIPALITIES
“TAKE THE PLEDGE” TO GET NEW JERSEY FIT

Towns Join Mayors Wellness Campaign to Promote Active Living and Healthier Lifestyles

Trenton – Eleven of New Jersey’s municipalities have become among the first towns in the state to formally join the unique and innovative “Mayors Wellness Campaign” (www.mayorswellnesscampaign.org) by taking a pledge to work within their communities to promote active living and healthier lifestyles.

The municipalities are:

Bloomingdale
Clifton
Hawthorne
Hillsborough
Hoboken
Long Beach
Madison
Manchester
Pompton Lakes
Roselle Park
Somerville

The Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC) pledge, which is signed by the Mayor in each town, reads:

I pledge to work cooperatively with the Mayors Wellness Campaign to implement new programs which will promote active living and healthier lifestyles for the men, women and children of our community.  I am committed to evaluating and reporting the programs we implement in our community. 

“We could not be more pleased that these towns have responded so quickly to our effort,” said Ann McDonald, Project Manager for the Mayors Wellness Campaign.  “This shows a true commitment to work hand in hand with us to implement programs that will help us achieve our goal of reducing obesity in the state by five percent by the year 2010.”

The Mayors Wellness Campaign supports mayors as champions of community health.  The goal is to increase opportunities for New Jersey residents to participate in daily physical activity with a long-term goal of reducing health care costs secondary to obesity.  Through public-private partnerships, the MWC provides structure and resources for healthy community initiatives.  By encouraging mayors to play a leadership role in supporting local opportunities for active, healthy lifestyles, the intent of the MWC is to improve health and make New Jersey a national leader in community-based health interventions.

This spring the MWC distributed its “Toolbox” to Mayors in all 566 of New Jersey’s municipalities.  Mayors were asked to endorse the effort by taking a pledge of participation.  On-line editions of the first two sections of the Toolbox (Youth in Motion, Employees in Motion) are available at www.mayorswellnesscampaign.org.

The campaign has a goal of signing up fully 50 percent (283) of all New Jersey municipalities by the end of its first year of operation.

“We are well on our way to achieving, even surpassing, our goal,” said Ms. McDonald. 

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 with major funding provided by BeneCard Services, Inc. and 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).