News

As families across the Wake County are encouraged to be more active, many face barriers and safety concerns when they set out to walk or bike their way around town. Since 2000, more than 650 children, age 18 and younger, have been involved in a pedestrian crash in Wake County. The Wake County Child Pedestrian Safety Action Network (WakePedNet) is working on long-term policy changes to improve the environments where children walk.

The John Rex Endowment has new funding available for projects related to the following two goals from our five-year plan, Our Plan for Impact, 2013-2018:  Preventing Injury and Nonprofit Capacity Building.

The John Rex Endowment is pleased to announce the launch of our five-year plan, Our Plan for Impact, 2013-2018, which holds the promise of changing the environment in which children grow up in Wake County. As we embark upon this exciting phase in the foundation’s history, our hope and intention is that projects implemented with this plan will bring lasting change that will continue to nurture Wake County’s children for many years into the future.

The John Rex Endowment announces the approval of a planning grant of $81,789 for Inter-Faith Food Shuttle to work with the Southeast Raleigh community to develop a plan for an urban agriculture project to address low access to healthy foods.

Four grants totaling $1.37 million have been awarded by the John Rex Endowment to support projects in Wake County that address the mental health and the social and emotional well-being of young children. The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) and Wake County SmartStart will receive project implementation grants. Marbles Kids Museum and WCPSS will be awarded planning grants.

The John Rex Endowment announces the approval of capacity building grants for Loaves and Fishes Ministry, SAFEchild, and Wade Edwards Foundation and Learning Lab. The three grants total more than $100,000.

Constance Cronk, a retiring physical education teacher, recently reflected on how her career has focused on enhancing the total wellness of her school community. In a recent blog post written for Advocates for Health in Action, Cronk described a wellness adventure that spans 20 years at Baucom Elementary School in Apex, NC. 

The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle (IFFS) offers Cooking Matters, a national nutrition education course that was featured on NBC Nightly News. Local classes, which are offered to children, families and child care professionals, use nationally developed curricula to teach low-income families how to purchase and prepare healthy foods.

North Carolina's new obesity prevention plan was released January 24, 2013 at the State Health Director's Conference in Raleigh. The seven-year plan offers overarching goals and measurable objectives for anyone working in the area of overweight and obesity prevention. The plan is designed to guide the work of Eat Smart, Move More NC, a statewide movement that promotes increased opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity wherever people live, learn, earn, play and pray.

Childhood overweight and obesity continues to be a critical concern in Wake County.  The John Rex Endowment is interested in supporting overweight and obesity prevention strategies that (1) have a public impact (i.e., benefit more rather than few children); (2) have preventive benefits that are long-lasting (i.e.,…