Boys & Girls Club of Whitecourt & District: Tour De Feet

The Cause

During our nine week Summer Camp Program, the Boys & Girls will be walking to various 'goal' destinations throughout Whitecourt. This will include parks, recreational facilities, community partners and other local businesses. It will be our goal to walk a minimum of 5 kilometers per week. All progress will be tracked and documented, by the staff as well as the children. A walking log will be kept by the staff and the children will keep track of kilometers, steps and experiences gained along the way, in their journals own individual walking journals.
At the end of our summer camp, a Boys & Girls Club Walk will be organized, inviting the community and our 'Tour De Feet' sponsors to take part in celebrating our success.
Our Tour De Feet summers end celebration will begin at our Club and end at Rotary Park, approx. 3.7kms away. This is a free, family friendly park, offering river slides, a splash park, fish pond and fountain, as well as a large green space and playground. The community will be invited to this event, celebrating the children's achievements and recognizing their hard work and success. At the park, we plan to have a Boys & Girls Club banner, honouring our children, as well as decorations and games. A BBQ will be provided, and all are welcome to enjoy the park. The children will be awarded certificates and other other honorary memorabilia. This event will be advertised on social media, in our club through parent handouts and with flyers distributed throughout the community. Our weekly destinations and sponsors will also be given advanced notice of the final event.
Our children regularly take part in walking activities throughout the school year, as well as the summer months. Offering this initiative throughout the summer will enhance our summer camp programming, and gain further support and exposure of the Boys & Girls Club of Whitecourt & District. Once this program has finished, our children will continue to take part in walking activities on a regular basis, coming up with new destinations for educational purposes, new exposures for both our children and the community, and to just have fun! Progress will continue to be monitored and posted on social media and throughout our club, in order to promote healthy walking activities throughout the community.

Who Will it Benefit?

The Boys & Girls Club of Whitecourt & District is a leading provider of after school and out of school care, in the Town of Whitecourt and surrounding areas. The BGC is well known in our town and our supporters love to see us out enjoying our community and all it has to offer. Providing this initiative will directly impact our community by involving all those within walking distance of our Club, and by educating our fellow community members on the importance of physical activity and living a healthy lifestyle.
Our town is primarily oil and gas, with a large hospitality industry, as well as a pulp and sawmill. New businesses are continuously recruiting to the Whitecourt area, therefore bringing with them new families. As these families are relocating, they are in need of quality child care that ensures physical activity and a healthy lifestyles that keeps their children safe. We have many parks and amenities within walking distance that would provide a strong connection and an enhanced educational experience within our our community. Demographically speaking, many of our children come from low-income, single parent families, who may not have the time or means to be able to provide the exercise that walking gives.