If campus seems bare today it’s because our employees and students have been given a unique and exciting opportunity to volunteer. Over 125 people from the DMU community are in downtown Des Moines at Wells Fargo Arena taking part in the First Lady, Michelle Obama’s, 2nd anniversary of her ‘Let’s Move’ initiative.
Let’s Move is a campaign started by Mrs. Obama two years ago to promote healthy living amongst our nation’s kids. It is a program that was made to solve the problem of childhood obesity. The Let’s Move campaign has ‘provided children with healthier food and greater opportunities for physical activity in schools and communities, helped get families the information they need to make healthier decisions, supported a healthy start in early childhood, and have worked to ensure more people have access to healthy, affordable food.’
The Let’s Move website has many useful tools including, food pyramids, portion recommendations, tools for child care providers and day care centers to help the youngest children get off to a healthy start, resources for parents, and much more.
The first lady has chosen Des Moines as the kick-off location for a three-day national tour promoting the Let’s Move campaign. Thousands of central Iowa elementary and middle school students will descend upon Wells Fargo Arena to participate in this 2nd anniversary event. Mrs. Obama is scheduled to speak to the crowd at 11:00 a.m. Local acts will perform for the crowd. There will also be some local and national celebrities including: Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper, ISU basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, figure skater Michelle Kwan, WNBA player Tamika Catchings, NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, and gold-medal gymnast Shawn Johnson. Organizers have said more celebrities could be added.
Des Moines University has recently implemented a new Vision statement. I believe this event fits perfectly with the vision’s main points which include: education, leadership, wellness, and community. We get many opportunities to volunteer here at DMU, but I feel this one is very unique. Our students and employees are getting a chance to come together as one body and represent DMU in one of the best ways they know how: by giving back to our community and volunteering for an event that will hopefully have a positive effect on the future of our children.
