Bills players Arthur Moats, Alex Carrington, Mike Caussin and Mike Jasper visited with the William J. Grabiarz School of Excellence (BPS #79) Thursday to present $1,000 worth of youth sports equipment. Through the Buffalo Bills Play 60 Challenge, the Buffalo Bills, BlueCross BlueShield of WNY and the American Heart Association purchased 20 equipment packages valued at $1,000 each and distributed them to 20 local elementary schools for use in this physical education classrooms.
The final package was delivered to the Grabiarz school during an assembly put on for the fourth and fifth grade gym class. Bills players in attendance introduced themselves and shared Play 60 tips to the students and some of their secrets to living a healthy and active lifestyle. After the players introduced themselves, students and players broke off into physical activity stations including jump rope, hula hoop, football toss and knockout.
"It was great," said DL Alex Carrington. "We got to visit with the kids and get them moving! It's all about letting the kids know about healthy living. What I always want to express is get out there with friends and make up games, get creative. You don't always need a lot of people to have a good time."
"This visit was awesome. The teachers are so welcoming here and the school is really nice," said Mike Jasper. "It's a good feeling knowing that the staff here wants nothing but great things for the students. This equipment grant wasn't just given to them, this school pledged to Play 60 and work hard to be healthy and active so they want and deserve it."
Through the program, 20 local elementary and middle schools from the Buffalo Public schools and local suburban schools that partner with BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York were randomly selected* *to receive $1,000 worth of sports equipment for their physical education classrooms.
"To think that 19 other schools got all this sports equipment is really cool," said Bills TE Mike Caussin. "I know when I was growing up my gym class definitely could've used all this. I know that the school will put it to good use."
To become eligible for the Equipment Grant Program the schools physical education teacher simply filled out a pledge that they would challenge their students to be physically active for 60 minutes every day throughout the year. The schools that registered for the grant were sent online Play 60 Challenge resources (Teachers Guides, Student Activity Sheets and Play 60 Certificates)* *to help encourage their students to be active in school and at home through physically active homework assignments.
"I got a little mid afternoon workout in," said a smiling Arthur Moats. "It's all about the small steps to build up your endurance. Kids just have to learn to make small changes in their everyday lives to lead a healthier life and that's what we were here stressing to the kids today. From taking stairs instead of an elevator to eating an apple instead of applesauce will make all the difference."
