The Cavnar Foundation is committed to providing inspiration for and the tools to achieve a healthy and more productive lifestyle to young people through education and the arts. The financial and human costs of obesity and nutrition-related diseases are growing at an alarming rate and will soon outpace our ability to deal with them. Obesity and overweight issues in Texas now costs taxpayers over $9 billion a year. Obese children have a much higher risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart disease and cancer. Recent research shows that nearly 50% of Houston 4th graders are overweight and 26% of Houston area teenagers are obese. That's the highest rate of at-risk children in Texas.
Cavnar Foundation is translating research into action, through its new program: Recipe for Success.
Recipe for Success, an initiative launched by foundation principals Grace and Robert Cavnar in 2003, is dedicated to combating childhood obesity and encouraging long term health by altering the way our children understand, appreciate and eat their food. Recipe for Success concentrates its efforts on mobilizing community volunteers and providing them with a well structured opportunity for impact while creating a working model that can be implemented in other communities.
The Recipe for Success pilot project will roll out in the fall of 2005 in seven Houston area elementary schools. The initiative will train selected volunteers to work with teachers, administrators and parents to assess the each individual school's needs; then to develop a tailored solution on a case by case basis by combining the best available community, university and government programs; and then to coordinate the implementation of those programs. Recipe for Success will put children back in touch with healthy food.
To volunteer or donate, please contact us at info@cavnarfoundation.org.