"Winter Wellness" Launches at Eddystone Elementary

Today marked the first day of a new “Winter Wellness” program at Eddystone Elementary, made possible by Youth Development United.

For five consecutive winter weeks, Eddystone students (of whom 80.4 percent qualify for free or reduced school lunches because of their families’ economic situations) will have increased access to gain healthy living skills through this program. Caring instructors will lead the children through stress-relieving art therapy, yoga, mindfulness and martial arts, and encourage them to continue practicing their learnings even when the sessions are complete.

Today’s kick-off session, viewable on Youtube, was all about healthy eating. Real Kids Real Food instructor Sydney Gossweiler taught the children about the importance of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, then led them through the process of making “Ants on a Log,” a healthy snack comprised of celery, almond butter and raisins. The children were also sent home with their own rainbow of apples, oranges, bananas, celery, raisins and sunflower butter to share with their families.

“It was a lot of fun to work with the Eddystone students,” commented Gossweiler, a junior at Appalachian State University studying Psychology with a concentration in Health Studies, and part of a group that won a national HOSA (Future Health Professionals) competition. “The students were very energetic, attentive and respectful. They came in with an understanding that real foods are provided to us by nature, and they eagerly participated in our further teachings.”

“We created the Real Kids Real Food program in 2008, in reaction to the overwhelming statistics on childhood obesity and chronic illnesses,” explained Betsy Bragg, Director. who also runs Eat to Thrive for adults. Both programs have track records of helping to reduce significant health problems including diabetes and cancer. Participants from all over the world are invited to pay what they can to join the courses by Zoom, and free food delivery is available to those who qualify for support. New 10-week sessions are beginning this week; registration can be found at https://eattothrive.info/

All the produce distributed for Eddystone’s Winter Wellness program was generously donated by the nearby Swarthmore CO-OP, founded in 1937 as a cooperative food market and now open to all. The CO-OP’s mission of promoting healthy, delicious foods, and its focus on educational and event programming has made it a commercial and social hub for surrounding Delaware County communities, and has helped earn it continuous recognition by the Daily Times as “Best of DelCo.”