This summer, millions of people were inspired to move and groove with
Coca-Cola as part of its Get The Ball Rolling initiative. Today
Coca-Cola has reached its goal to inspire 3 million Americans to
rediscover the joy of being active in communities across the country
since May.
“For Coca-Cola, inspiring moments of happiness is part of our heritage
and our future. What’s more fun than families and friends delighting in
the joy of being active?” said Stuart Kronauge, General Manager,
Sparkling Beverages, Coca-Cola USA. “While we teamed up with communities
across the country this summer to get people moving more, we’re far from
done. We plan to continue using our unequaled reach to inspire healthy
and happy living.”
The Company, with The Coca-Cola Foundation, inspired more than 3 million
people to get their “fun” on. It helped make activities and sports gear
available in communities across the country all summer long.
One of the Company’s efforts to keep the movement going includes the
grand opening of a new Live Positively Fitness Center at Asbury
Park Middle School in New Jersey. Together, Coca-Cola Americas President
Steve Cahillane, Governor Chris Christie and fitness icon Jake Steinfeld
showcased the facility today.
Asbury Park’s Live Positively Fitness Center is equipped with strength
training machines, cardiovascular gear and interactive exercise games
customized for middle school students. It’s one of 100 such facilities
that will open at schools around the country over five years. The
fitness centers are expected to facilitate 5 million workouts. Center
locations are focused on areas with high childhood obesity rates and
areas that have few places for children to access state-of-the-art
equipment. Participating schools are selected by the National Foundation
for Governors’ Fitness Councils and the American College of Sports
Medicine. Funding is provided through a grant from The Coca-Cola Company.
“The health of our children is vital to the health of our future and
that’s why I’ve declared war on childhood obesity,” said Steinfeld to a
crowd of students and community leaders. “We are providing schools with
tools to improve fitness, benefit academics and combat obesity. We can
overcome any challenge when we work together to inspire and motivate
students. The partners who joined forces today bring this idea to life.”
The Asbury Park Live Positively Fitness Center is one of 12 locations
opening in 10 days across Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey and West
Virginia. The centers are part of Get the Ball Rolling activities
that helped inspire more than 3 million Americans to move this summer.
Other activities included:
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Collectively, NASCAR fans walked more than 17,000 miles through the
Coca-Cola Track Walks program.
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Thousands of people decided to “Take It To The Park” by logging in
more than 44,000 hours of activity to benefit their favorite parks.
Their efforts helped win recreation grants as part of the America
Is Your Park campaign.
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Families, teens and young adults received 100,000 free soccer balls at
Coca-Cola sponsored events like Coca-Cola Swelter Stopper and Family
Field Days in Atlanta and Chicago.
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Coca-Cola® Happiness Trucks inspired more than 1 million people to
move to the beat of summer’s hottest music during dance events across
the country.
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Charlotte and Nashville’s Fit
Family Challenge asked residents to compete in an eight-week
physical activity program.
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Coca-Cola is partnering with the City of Sacramento to launch “Troops
for Fitness” later today. This program supports the hiring of U.S.
veterans to teach military-style fitness classes in citywide
facilities.
To see how Coca-Cola got the ball rolling this summer, click to view a broadcast
television commercial debuting today.
Initiatives like Live Positively Fitness Centers and Get The Ball
Rolling are part of The Coca-Cola Company’s commitment to bring
people together to help address obesity. These efforts focused on
engaging communities, families, experts and governments. In addition,
The Company is delivering more beverage choices, calorie information and
making physical activity opportunities more available than ever before.
To learn more, visit www.comingtogether.com.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The
Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage
company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands.
Led by Coca-Cola, the world's most valuable brand, our Company's
portfolio features 15 billion-dollar brands including Diet
Coke, Fanta,
Sprite,
Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade,
Minute
Maid, Simply,
Georgia and Del
Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages,
ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world's
largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200
countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.8 billion servings a day.
With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our
Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental
footprint, support active,
healthy
living, create a safe, inclusive work environment
for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the
communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we
rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000
system associates. For more information, visit www.coca-colacompany.com,
follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo
or visit our blog, Coca-Cola
Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com.
About the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils
The National Foundation seeks to encourage and reward innovation in the
field of youth fitness by awarding fitness centers to schools that use
new and unique methods to promote student physical activity and
wellness. The National Foundation envisions a fitness center in every
school in the U.S., helping to build a nation that—through innovation
and a “Don’t Quit” attitude—boasts the fittest kids in the world.
Copyright Business Wire 2013