FLIPANY and PACE Center for Girls Broward partner to teach nutrition and wellness to at-risk girls

Feb. 4, 2009 - PRLog -- Local non-profit FLIPANY (Florida Introduces Physical Activity and Nutrition to Youth) and the PACE Center for Girls Broward have recently partnered to provide daily health and wellness courses to at-risk teen girls at their location in Wilton Manors. The year-round program Eat Right. Get Moving. Repeat! reinforces daily exercise, nutrition, reading, math, and science skills and teaches the life skills necessary for the girls at PACE to achieve their individual health goals.

“Before our partnership with FLIPANY, we could provide only a very limited P.E. class and little information on nutrition.” says Aggie Pappas, MSW, Executive Director of PACE Center for Girls Broward. “Now, with FLIPANY’s certified teachers and dietitians, advanced curriculum and daily offering of courses, our secondary students have the P.E. credits they need to graduate and a greater, more informed knowledge of what it means to care about themselves.”

In the year ended June 30, 2008, PACE Broward served 181 at-risk girls. Of those girls, almost 90% of the seriously at-risk girls improved their academic performance and 75% remain in school or employed three years after leaving PACE.

“Seeing the impact this program is having on these girls has given us an even greater goal of offering this program for PACE statewide,” says Lynne Kunins, Executive Director of FLIPANY. “Knowing that we’re giving the girls an opportunity to positively change their health and wellness for a lifetime and provide the coursework needed to graduate has been a great accomplishment for our staff.”

PACE Center for Girls, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation that provides a non-residential delinquency prevention program in 17 locations in Florida, targeting the unique needs of females ages 11 to 17 identified as delinquent, truant, runaway, or in need of academic skills. PACE (Practical Academic Cultural Education) accepts referrals from the juvenile justice system, the Department of Children and Families, school personnel, community service agencies, parents, family members, friends and self-referrals. Its purpose is to intervene and prevent school withdrawal, juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancy, substance abuse and welfare dependency all in a safe and nurturing environment.  PACE programs provide the following services: academic education, individualized counseling, a gender-specific life management curriculum (SPIRITED GIRLS®), therapeutic support services, parental involvement, student volunteer service projects, and transitional follow-up services. For further information about the PACE program and the impact it has on the lives of girls at-risk, please visit the PACE website at www.pacecenter.org  or call 954-561-6939.

Florida Introduces Physical Activity & Nutrition to Youth (FLIPANY) is a 501 c (3) non-profit corporation established in 2005 to provide free or low cost physical activity and nutrition to low income youth and their families in South Florida.  Uniquely tailored to children, adolescents and adults, FLIPANY's innovative programs create a fun learning environment that utilizes a variety of hands on activities, including games, sports, physical activities and cooking classes to engage and facilitate learning about good nutrition, food budgeting,  meal planning, and physical fitness as aspects of a healthy life.  FLIPANY’s program, “Eat Right. Get Moving. Repeat!”, and Operation Frontline® cooking classes have served over 1,300 youth and their families in 2008. For more information on FLIPANY, call 954.636.2388 or visit www.flipany.org.