Brown University Students Team Up With Professional Athletes To Fight Childhood Obesity

March 9, 2011 - PRLog -- (New York, NY) March 9, 2011: A unique partnership was created when three Brown University students teamed up with ‘nPLAY Foundation to raise money to fight childhood obesity. Senior Allison Galer and sophomores Jeff Lipton and Lex Rofes have created an NCAA Tournament pool competition to raise money to fight childhood obesity. The competition is called March to Health, www.marchtohealth.com, and has been approved by the NCAA, the Ivy League and Brown University. Participants are entered into the bracket pool after making a minimum donation of $5.00 to the ‘nPLAY Foundation. The entry fee goes directly to charity and there is no prizing.

‘nPLAY, an anti-childhood obesity non-profit, is a coalition of 35 athletes from 15 sports and is led by Chairwoman Jennie Finch. Other athletes involved are Grant Hill, Paul Pierce, Evander Holyfield, Summer Sanders, Kenny Anderson, Marie Ferdinand-Harris and Shannon Miller. The organization’s primary focus is to raise money that can be directly put back into schools to help them meet the criteria of the HealthierUS School Challenge.

‘nPLAY Chairwoman Jennie Finch says, “This is a really great day, not only for ‘nPLAY but for the fight against childhood obesity. Allison, Jeff and Lex are phenomenal role models for both their generation as well as for adults. They not only recognize the problem but are aggressively acting to raise money to help fight it. We are extremely honored to be working with them.”

The idea for March to Health spawned from a similar project Lex ran while in high school. When Lex and Jeff decided they wanted to expand this idea to a nationwide campaign, Jeff asked Allison, the President of Brown Sports Business, for advice and help.  Allison, the marketing consultant for Marie Ferdinand-Harris, had previously connected her with ‘nPLAY and decided to bring the non-profit in on the project. States Rofes, “Working with college students and professional athletes across the country who are passionate about this issue is truly exciting. Both college students and athletes are often painted as apathetic with regard to charity. Jeff, Allison and I firmly believe that there is a strong desire among both groups to make a positive impact on society. By teaming up with ‘nPLAY, we are able to be part of the solution in fighting children’s obesity."


Contact: Eric Cohen: ec@nplayfoundation.org or 646-342-8668

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About ‘nPLAY
‘nPLAY is a peer-to-peer movement in which one athlete asks another to help, building membership and momentum. The organization’s initial focus is to help schools meet the criteria of the Healthier US School Challenge. ‘nPLAY and USDA-Food Nutrition Services are in the process of developing a partnership that will focus on increasing the time dedicated to physical activity/education in targeted schools.