Building Healthier Communities, Documentation Narrative
Throughout 2011, there have been many initiatives to promote the health and wellness of
the residents of Berkeley Heights. A number of these initiatives are outlined below:
Youth In Motion:
DESCRIPTION
ATTACHMENTS
The township sponsors recreation programs for youth The Berkeley Heights
year round. The attached flier speaks for itself. The PAL Recreation Winter Program,
in town also sponsors sports teams.
11pp
We are fortunate to have the Berkeley Heights YMCA in
town that offers a number of programs for youth in our
community. The following list briefly describes the
programs, and the attachments provide greater detail.
 The “7th Grade Initiative”, offers not only free
opportunities for fitness and sports, but also social
opportunities in a safe environment. A brochure
is attached.
 Healthy Kids Day – On April 16, the Y
sponsored a free community event that provided
activities and educational demonstrations on how
to be more active and incorporate healthier habits
at home. A press release is attached.
 Youth classes for children ( ages 3 – 12)
including Dance, Sports and Active Games.
 The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey
Healthy U program is designed to combat
childhood obesity by instituting behavioural
changes in children using a multi pronged
approach that includes nutrition education,
increased physical activity and a focus on family.
It is open to children ages 5-12 enrolled in the
YMCA after-school programs and funded by a
grant from the Horizon Foundation for New
Jersey. More detail is available in the attached
flier.
Healthy Communities
Berkeley Heights, NJ
1
7th Grade Initiative, 2 pp
“Summit, Berkeley Heights
YMCA’s hold ‘Healthy Kids
Day’ Saturday”, 1p
About Healthy U: CATCH
Program description and
flyer, 1pp
Seniors In Motion
DESCRIPTION
ATTACHMENTS
The senior citizens of Berkeley Heights are a very
active group, with 300 members over the age of 55.
Wednesday is designated as Activity Day, with a senior
exercise class scheduled at 11:00. Blood pressure
readings are also taken every second Wednesday. See
attached flyer for details.
Senior Citizens of Berkeley
Heights NEWSLETTER,
November 2011, 1pp
The YMCA also offers a number of fitness programs
for seniors including Balance and Coordination Class;
Arthritis Class and Senior Yoga
YMCA Group Exercise
Schedule, 2pp
Healthy Communities
Berkeley Heights, NJ
2
Employees In Motion:
DESCRIPTION
Township employees are offered a number of exercise
incentives.
 They can use the exercise facilities in the
recreation building which is adjacent to town hall
free of charge.
 The Health Insurance Fund (a coop insurance used
by municipalities to get better health insurance
rates for their employees) provides free wellness
coaches to municipal employees. See attachment.
 The insurance provider, United Healthcare,
reimburses some of the cost of gym membership
for programs which promote cardiovascular
wellness..
 The Berkeley Heights Fire Department has a
terrific exercise room for the firemen at the
firehouse.
The Berkeley Heights YMCA offers Staff Fitness
challenges twice a year to give their staff incentives to
increase their activity levels. The challenges last 3 months
Berkeley Heights is fortunate to have the Summit
Medical Group (SMG) located in town. Their
community outreach programs are an enormous asset
to the local community (see communities in motion) .
In addition, they offer encouragement to their employees
and patients for healthy living.
 Employees can work out in the on site gym free of
charge during certain hours when the Physical
Therapy team is not using it.
 In addition, Summit Medical Group also offers
their employees discounts to local area gyms like
the YMCA’s and Murray Hill Health and Racquet
Club.
 The summit medical group encourages
employees to exercise by facilitating the
organization of teams to participate in a number of
walks that they sponsor. These walks will vary
from year to year, but include the American Heart
Association, Susan G Komen , and the Arthritis
Foundation.
Healthy Communities
Berkeley Heights, NJ
3
ATTACHMENTS
“Why change Now?”
brochure attached, 1p
“Gym Reimbursement” flier
attached, 2pp
Communities In Motion:
DESCRIPTION
ATTACHMENTS
The marketing department at the Summit Medical group is
very active in the local community. The SMG sponsors a
number of events, a few are listed below:
 On October 2 SMG hosted a Sports and
Healthy Living Festival for the second year in a
row, encouraging local residents to get out and
move and learn about nutrition and try various
sports. This was a very well attended event with
celebrity appearances, sports giveaways (including
a jump rope demo and giveaway), rock climbing
wall, numerous sports booths where kids could try
things like baseball, basketball, fencing,
badminton, yoga, etc. See details in the attached.
 They also put on a minimum of 24 lectures,
programs and/or healthy living events per year.
These events are open to the public. See attached
for September thru December 2011 schedule.
 Their internet site and magazine sent out to all
residents include many tips on staying fit and
healthy, including the attached on Holiday Fitness.
Berkeley Heights as a community has four events
scheduled by various organizations throughout the
year that encourage the local community to run/walk.
They are listed below in the order they occurred in 2011,
and fliers with details can be found in the attachments.
 The Mother’s Day 5K, held on 5/9/11 is
sponsored annually on Mother’s Day by the
Berkeley Heights YMCA and encourages
members of the local community to walk or run
while raising money for the Y’s outreach
programs. In preparation for the race, the YMCA
also sponsors a seven week running club to help
train runners properly for the upcoming season of
running. They also sponsored a “Happy Feet
Club” at Woodruff Elementary School in Berkeley
Heights, to encourage kids ages 7 to 12 to enter the
run. Attachments
Healthy Communities
Berkeley Heights, NJ
4
Live Well Sports and Health
Festival Flier, 3pp
Lectures and Events,
September – October 2011
& Oct – Dec 2011, 3pp
Holiday Fitness Tips, 1pp
Press Release on YMCA
Running Club and
enrollment form Woodruff
Happy Feet Club, 2pp



Amber Pizzo 5K Run/Walk
On July 10, 2011, the Amber Pizzo Memorial
1p
Run completed its sixth year as a staple in the
community. The race, in memoriam of a young
teacher in town who was killed after being struck
by an automobile driven by a drunk driver, holds
both a competitive run, a fitness walk and kids
sprints. Details can be found in the attachment and
at the website:
http://www.amberpizzo.com/5K.php
Berkeley Heights 5K, 1p
The Annual Berkeley Heights Charity 5k
sponsored by Smith Chiropractic was run on
September 18, 2011 for the 15th consecutive year!
The race raises money for many charities,
including the Berkeley Heights Environmental
Commission. Details can be found on the
attachment and at the website:
http://www.berkeleyheights5k.com/
Relay For Life, The Berkeley Heights Relay for
Life event is an overnight fundraising event where
teams raise money by walking or running in a
relay style around the track at Governor
Livingston High School, and it was held June 4,
2011 and is planned for the same date next year.
It was awarded the number one spot in the state.
This year’s relay played host to 94 teams with 985
participants that raised more than $284,000 for
American Cancer Society Research. It was the
number one Relay for Life fundraiser in the state
of New Jersey.
Article attached from
NJ.com, 1p
America On the Move Week – A free week membership
is offered by the Berkeley Heights YMCA to all families
in our community who are not members to encourage nonmembers to get active the week of September 20 – 27th.
Overlook Hospital in Summit, provides low cost or
free screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, bone
density, diabetes, and hearing. The Berkeley Heights
YMCA participates as one of the locations in the
community for these screenings, see press releases
attached.
Healthy Communities
Berkeley Heights, NJ
5
“Overlook Hospital
Workshops Promote health
in Summit, Berkeley
Heights”, NJ.com press
release, 2pp
The YMCA has a free exercise program for cancer
recovery and a second small group exercise program
which called Livestrong for the same population. It also
offers monthly fitness lectures to the community.
Healthy Communities
Berkeley Heights, NJ
6
YMCA “Helping You Live
Well” brochure attached,
1pp