Healthy Hero Cathy Thomas
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Updated: August 27, 2012
The Kango Academy in Henrietta played an important role in the lives of children at Elim Fellowship Church this summer, thanks to Healthy Hero Cathy Thomas. Today, Thomas eats a well-balanced diet and exercises whenever she can, but she admits she didn't always make the right choices. "My mom passed in February. She had diabetes and she had other complications...and I went for my own physical and my blood level was so high I couldn't even take the test." She didn't want to take medication, so she began eating more fruits and vegetables and lost quite a bit of weight. After seeing what such a small change could do, she decided to help children at her church prevent the same situation from happening to them. She applied for a grant from the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, and used the money to expand the summer camp at Elim Christian Fellowship. She took 62 children to Kango Academy for two weeks, to show them that exercising can be fun. "Unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise because nowadays everybody wants to sit in front of the television and play their little video games. But truly, this camp provided a way for kids to really be physical have some fun, eat healthy and try new things." Thomas hopes she can secure more funding in the future to include parents, and improve the nutrition of entire families. "It's not only the church that benefits, but its the community at large that benefits from the program." If you want to nominate a Healthy Hero, you can do it here on our website. Just click on "Healthy Hero" under the "News" tab.
