The Mayors Wellness Campaign Spreads Message at the 2009 League of Municipalities Convention
November 17-19, 2009 – Event Flyer
The New Jersey State League of Municipalities 94th Annual Conference took place at the Atlantic City Convention Center. The theme of the conference was “Teamwork – A Bridge To Brighter Horizons.” Last year, over 20,000 delegates, participants and guests attended, making this award-winning conference the largest annual gathering of municipal officials in the nation.
MWC was happy to be a part of the League Conference again this year. Our exhibit booth was located in the 100 aisle lounge area.
A number of MWC activities took place throughout the convention at the booth, including an autograph signing with Joetta Clark Diggs on Wednesday.
Twenty-six additional towns joined the statewide Mayors Wellness Campaign during the recent League conference, bringing the total of participating municipalities to over 400. Each town designs their own local campaign around their individual needs.
All participating municipalities in the Mayors Wellness Campaign throughout the state of New Jersey had their names entered into a drawing for the first-ever MWC $1,000 grant to help mayors implement healthy programs in their community. (Read press announcement: Independence Township Awarded Wellness Grant)
The MWC also participated in a League Panel Session on Wednesday, November 18th in the Atlantic City Convention Center. The title of the session was “The Mayors Wellness Campaign – Developing Cost-Efficient Strategies to Develop Healthy Towns.” In these tough economic times, everyone is figuratively tightening their belts. Mayors can help their citizens literally tighten their belts and get healthier by increasing activity to lose those extra pounds around the middle!
MWC will help mayors overcome some of the financial obstacles to implementing new programs by sharing free and low-cost ways to increasing activity in their communities, which will also help reduce the skyrocketing health care costs associated with obesity. Just entering its fourth year in operation, MWC now counts more than 70% of New Jersey towns as participating communities.
This year’s panel featured the following participants: The Honorable John McCormac, Mayor of Woodbridge; The Honorable Nancy Malool, Mayor of Scotch Plains; The Honorable Gwen Faison, Mayor of Camden; Bill Thomas, Managing Partner, Communities OnLIne LLC; and Emily Littman, Director, Mayors Wellness Campaign.
Our annual MWC Reception was held on Wednesday, Nov. 18, immediately following the panel session in the Crown Ballroom of the Sheraton Convention Center Hotel (adjacent to the convention center). We welcomed all mayors, municipal officials and conference attendees to join us. (Reception Flyer)
Our special guest of honor at this year’s reception was 4-time Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs. The daughter of Dr. Joe Clark, subject of the movie “Lean on Me”, Mrs. Clark Diggs is a motivational speaker, host and producer of a cable fitness show called “FitKidz, NJ,” and has recently written a book entitled Joetta’s “P” Principles for Success. The Joetta Clark Diggs Sports Foundation, Inc. has created fitness programs for families, track and field camps and seminars, and a program that addresses and provides solutions to the childhood crisis of sedentary lifestyles and poor eating habits. Read more at JoettaSportsAndBeyond.com.
The annual League conference is a unique opportunity to meet & mingle with NJ‘s municipal officials and attend over 100 sessions, panels, and workshops on the hottest municipal issues. We hope to see you next year!
To learn more about the conference, go to www.njslom.com and click on the Annual Conference link.
MWC sponsors for the 2009 League conference:
