Click here to learn more about WellSpan in the community
Back

Healthy Communities

WellSpan, local libraries encourage kids to ‘Get Outdoors’

January 21, 2018 by WellSpan Health

Area kids and families spent their summers reading and hiking in an annual program called Get Outdoors (GO!), through which WellSpan Health partners with libraries in Adams, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties. Funded by WellSpan Community Partnership Grants, the initiative helps to promote lifelong wellness and healthy habits among kids and families in the communities that WellSpan serves.

This year, the GO Ephrata! program held a special kickoff in June 2017 as part of a “Healthy Day in the Park” family festival. The event — jointly sponsored by Ephrata Public Library and WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital — featured a community walk, with stops for hula hooping and other activities, kids’ games, an obstacle course, storytime, healthy snacks and a health fair. Hundreds of children, including some dressed up like their favorite book characters, flocked to the event held in Ephrata’s Grater Memorial Park.

WellSpan, local libraries encourage kids to ‘Get Outdoors’

Photo by Jamie Johnson

The GO! program encourages children and their families to get outdoors and be physically active through a hobby known as letterboxing, where participants follow written clues to find wooden posts in parks in their area. Kids use a crayon or colored pencil to take a rubbing of etched plates attached to the posts, collecting the rubbings in an activity booklet. The booklet also has a list of books that correspond with the etching and the year’s theme, which was “GO and Build a Better World.” Kids who turn in the activity booklets also have an opportunity to win prizes in the program.

This year, libraries across WellSpan’s service area distributed 14,251 GO! activity booklets to children. Dozens of folks across the region also shared their photos and fun on Facebook pages created for the program in each community, encouraging each other to take healthy steps.

One parent posted on the Facebook page for GO Adams!, where participants were challenged to find 15 posts in area parks: “It’s so much fun!! We are planning to do them all! It’s not just the kids getting exercise; it’s a workout for the parents, too!”

In York County, which celebrated its 10th year with the program, Deb Sullivan, community relations director of York County Libraries, said, “By participating in the program, kids stay school-ready by keeping their minds and bodies fit over the summer months.”