UnitedHealthcare Provides Funding and Volunteers To Build Active Living Trail in Little Nancy Creek Park Through CBS EcoMedia’s WellnessAd

ATLANTA, Nov. 20, 2012 /3BL Media/ - A new quarter-mile long Active Living Trail with multiple fitness stations now encircles Little Nancy Creek Park, providing positive exercise and health options for the entire community.  The Active Living Trail and fitness stations, made possible by the financial support from UnitedHealthcare’s advertising through CBS EcoMedia’s WellnessAd program, features messaging for families and visitors to learn easy ways to incorporate healthy behaviors into their lives courtesy of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta's Strong4Life movement to fight childhood obesity. 

A ribbon-cutting celebration was hosted by Howard Shook, District 7 Atlanta Councilmember, Linda Matzigkeit, Chief Administrative Officer, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Mark Stovin, President, Friends of Little Nancy Creek Park, Rick Elliott CEO, Georgia, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual, and Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder, CBS EcoMedia Inc. The grand opening of the Active Living Trail was attended by special guests including members of the Atlanta Falcons, Chef Rusty Hamlin as well as dozens of UnitedHealthcare volunteers and members of the community who worked to clean and prepare the park for the debut of the new trail and fitness stations.

Following the ribbon-cutting, members of the Falcons and the UnitedHealthcare volunteers helped demonstrate the features of the trail and fitness stations as well as the interactive smartphone technology that provides instructions for each station.  The new fitness and exercise options are designed to help community members improve their overall health and respond to the climbing obesity and diabetes rates both locally and nationally.

“UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to promoting the importance of physical activity and good nutrition among people of all ages,” said Rick Elliott, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Georgia. “We’re happy to partner with the City of Atlanta, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, EcoMedia and the Atlanta Falcons to help people living in the Little Nancy Creek Park neighborhood live healthier lives.”

As part of their company’s “Do Good, Live Well” initiative, scores of UnitedHealthcare volunteers worked to beautify and prepare the park for the ribbon-cutting festivities, as well as the opening of the Active Living Trail.  Volunteers were happily joined by park neighbors and members of the Friends of Little Nancy Creek Park who all worked together to ready the park for today’s well-attended event.

"As a leader in the fight against childhood obesity, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta encourages small steps toward a healthier lifestyle and we are pleased for some of those first steps to be on the Little Nancy Creek Park walking trail," said Linda Matzigkeit, Chief Administrative Officer at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "We are proud that with our partners EcoMedia and UnitedHealthcare, the four Strong4Life Healthy Habits featured along the trail will help families realize that achieving their health goals can be fun and easy."

The new Active Living Trail provides exercise and fitness resources expected to benefit the diverse demographic of potential users in the nearby area including residents, families, neighbor-hospitals and the senior population who live in the several senior citizen communities within two miles.

UnitedHealthcare’s funding for the new trail and fitness stations is a result of a nationwide partnership with EcoMedia and its unique WellnessAd program that connects advertisers with tangible health and wellness projects in communities across the country.  Newly activated green space and the addition of the Active Living Trail is expected to increase use of the entire park and have a positive impact on the surrounding community. 

“Little Nancy Creek Park is a greenfield park located in an area of Atlanta that ranks last in green space and this new Active Living Trail and fitness stations should have a huge positive impact on thousands of people in the community,” said Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder of CBS EcoMedia.  “EcoMedia is on a mission to address the critical social issues of our time and to improve the health and quality of people’s lives in communities like this all across the country.  We are honored to be working with our advertising partner, UnitedHealthcare as part of our WellnessAd program to fund Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s superb efforts in this very deserving neighborhood.”

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.

About Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to enhancing the lives of children through excellence in patient care, research and education.  Managing more than half a million patient visits annually at three hospitals and 17 neighborhood locations, Children's is one of the largest clinical care providers for children in the country.  Children's offers access to more than 30 pediatric specialties and is ranked among the top children's hospitals by U.S News & World Report.  With generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children's has made an impact in the lives of children in Georgia, the United States and throughout the world.  Visit www.choa.org for more information.

Strong4Life is a movement created by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to ignite societal change to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity in Georgia. Strong4Life reaches families through school and provider training programs, community partnerships and policy change efforts. Additionally, Strong4Life provides parents and caregivers the support they need to accomplish their goals, while making nutrition and physical activity habits fun. For more information, visit Strong4Life's website or on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

About Friends of Little Nancy Creek Park

The Friends of Little Nancy Creek Park are a group of neighbors who share an interest in promoting and improving LNCP. Members receive email notice of park workdays, volunteer opportunities, and social events. As the Friends group grows, committees that focus on different aspects of the park are being created – for example, the community garden, the playground, and landscaping/trails.

About CBS EcoMedia Inc.

At EcoMedia, we’re propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that’s been our mission since we founded the company in 2002.  In 2008, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media. 

Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide.  In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change.  Please visit ecomedia.cbs.com to learn more. 

By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities.  EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.