November 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 46

nrpaupdate
Inspire Youth to Be Their
Best through Hershey's
Track & Field Games
Team up with your local teen Key Club
to offer track and ﬁeld.

HO INSPIRES YOU TO BE YOUR BEST? Hershey's
Track & Field Games (HTFG) gives you an opportunity to inspire youth ages 9-14 to try their best,
and, most importantly, have fun running, jumping, and throwing with friends and family. And there's no better way to inspire
tweens than through the teens they aspire to be.
Recognizing the growing resource
challenges among recreation leaders,
HTFG has teamed up with Key Club
International to rally local teen volunteers to support park and recreation
departments in planning and running this long-standing youth activity program.
Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students
(260,000 members), developing leadership through service. Not only do these
teens bring energy and enthusiasm to
volunteerism, they also serve as exemplary role models-building encouragement, conﬁdence, and achievement.

a personal invitation
for local teens to support your park and
recreation department and learn more
about your broader
programs.
All Key Clubs are
sponsored by a Kiwanis Club. Contact
your local Kiwanis organization and work
together to engage teens in planning
a 2013 event.

Develop Community Leaders
through Youth Service Learning

Bring the fun of running, jumping, and
throwing to your community and register to host a spring 2013 event. The
games are a great way to offer youth
activities at existing recreation events
such as community 5Ks, wellness fairs,
or other youth sports programs. You do
not have to organize all of the events
on Hershey's roster-choose the events
that work best for your program.
Organize an event in ﬁve simple steps:
1. Register your event. Create a local organizer account and register your event on the HTFG website

One of the greatest investments organizations can make in their communities is developing youth as leaders.
Service learning programs consistently demonstrate a positive impact on
youth self-esteem, leadership, academic achievement, and community engagement. For organizations, it brings
new ideas and energy, and increases
their connectedness and responsiveness to youth.
Hershey's Track & Field Games offers
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Parks & Recreation

| NOVEMBER 2012 | WWW.NRPA.ORG

under " Event Manager " at www.her
sheystrackandﬁeld.com.
2. Contact your local Kiwanis Club. Introduce yourself as a local HTFG organizer and request Kiwanis and Key
Club support in planning an event.
3. Plan and promote your event.
You'll ﬁnd helpful tools and templates through the Hershey's Event
Manager.
4. Develop a volunteer plan. Empower
your Key Club to recruit the volunteers needed to organize an event
(consider the school's track coach,
varsity club members, and community running clubs).
5. Host your event and have fun!
Email questions to ht&fg@hersheys.
com.

November 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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