Welcome to Team for Kids!

We're committed to improving the health and fitness of children across the United States and around the world.

Team for Kids members support acclaimed youth running programs that improve health, combat obesity and enhance personal development of children from low-income communities. Since 2002,Team for Kids members have raised more than $8 million to fund NYRR Foundation programs now uplifting almost 50,000 children a week in more than 200 schools and community centers. Programs are transforming kid's lives in New York City and throughout the United States as well as the Cape Town region of South Africa.

Team for Kids plays a decisive role in responding to the devastating human and economic toll of childhood obesity a deadly scourge whose long term consequences will diminish tens of millions of lives and cost of hundreds of billions of dollars if left un-reversed. With primary support from Team for Kids, NYRR Foundation's model programs teach children the fundamentals of lifetime fitness, while building their fortitude and focus and increasing their self-discipline and self-esteem.

How We Help Kids

Team for Kids is made up of adult runners from around the world who pledge to raise critical funds for New York Road Runners Foundation youth programs. These programs currently serve more than 25,000 children each week in 150 New York City schools and community centers, as well as sites in Arizona, California, Florida, Tennessee, Washington DC, and South Africa. The Foundation focuses on underserved communities-- places where kids get little or no physical education in or after school.

NYRRF programs give kids the tools to be active for life. NYRRF classes promote physical health, emotional well-being, and personal achievement. Children set personal fitness goals; NYRRF provides instruction, structure, and incentives to help them reach those goals. In these free programs, kids also learn about nutrition and the importance of academic achievement, all the while becoming physically active. NYRRF establishes the program, trains the faculty, and provides ongoing support to teachers, staff and volunteer coaches to maximize the impact of the program at each site.

Donations fund the programs. Team for Kids members receive contributions to meet their pledge commitment to NYRRF. These donations are an important financial source for NYRRF youth fitness programs. Donations pay for:

• Training for teachers, coaches, field managers, and coordinators, most of whom are volunteers

• Incentives for children to encourage them to maintain attendance, demonstrate sportsmanship, and strive for and achieve fitness and personal-achievement milestones

• Entry fees and transportation costs so participants in our programs can compete in races and attend running-related sporting events

• Resources to establish programs in areas of greatest need

More kids benefit as Team for Kids grows. Team for Kids started with a small group of runners participating in one race. Now some 1,000 team members are running and receiving donations from more than 25,000 generous contributors. This powerful outreach directly affects the number of children who can benefit from NYRRF programs.

Team for Kids Funding and Program Growth

Each year, Team for Kids members and their friends and families support thousands of kids. As fund-raising becomes increasingly successful, more children can participate in NYRR youth-running programs.

Kids today need physical fitness programs. Physical education is more important than ever. Because of changes in diet and lifestyle, kids are increasingly at risk for diseases that can significantly diminish the quality, productivity and longevity of their lives. By learning how to walk and run for exercise, how to make physical activity a habit, and how to set and achieve goals, kids develop the tools they need for a healthier, more productive life.

Childhood obesity shortens lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control:

• Inactivity and poor diet will soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Currently, obesity-related illnesses cause 300,000 deaths a year.

• Health-care expenses and productivity losses related to obesity problems cost Americans more than 100 billion dollars annually. The annual medical expense for juvenile obesity is more than $127 million.

• Type 2 diabetes is expected to afflict one in three children born in 2000 due to poor diet and lack of physical activity.

Kids in New York City aren't getting the help they need.

• 43 percent of elementary school children are overweight or obese.

• Student-teacher ratios for physical education are an estimated 730 to 1 in elementary schools.

• In two out of three middle schools, most of the physical education classes have more than 50 students.

• Two out of five public schools (all levels) offer no after-school sports and fitness activities at all.