[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 9 (Monday, January 25, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNIZING BOONE AND NEWTON COUNTIES

 Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, today I recognize Boone and 
Newton Counties, in my home State of Arkansas, for their efforts to 
create communities where children and their families have access to 
healthy, affordable foods and safe places to play and exercise. These 
counties, through the North Arkansas Partnership for Health Education, 
NAPHE, recently received a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson 
Foundation's ``Healthy Kids: Healthy Communities'' program.
  The funding will help local officials and organizations create 
policies that encourage active lifestyles for children and healthier 
eating habits for all residents in Boone and Newton Counties. The 
project will create a walking path to connect the south side of Lake 
Harrison to the schools and grocery stores to the north and will 
develop a system to deliver healthy foods to underserved neighborhoods 
and more remote parts of the counties.
  According to Rick Hinterthuer, NAPHE executive director, ``our 
community model is extremely efficient and effective. If we can do it 
in Harrison, it can be done in other places. We reach our community 
best through the Home Town Health Coalitions of Boone and Newton 
Counties.''
  I have had the pleasure of visiting the Boone County Hometown Health 
Improvement Coalition. The program is a model for the rest of the 
country and illustrates how a community can leverage its resources to 
address community health issues through local, State, regional and 
national partnerships.
  As chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and 
Forestry, I have fought to include funding to provide meals to needy 
children during summer months, to secure grants for States to modernize 
their school lunch delivery systems, to improve health outcomes for 
infants participating in the WIC Program, and to promote the health of 
young children in early childhood settings.
  I salute the good work going on in Harrison and North Arkansas to 
help keep our youngest citizens healthy.

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