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Fitness, Nutrition, Nature Highlights for Asher Clients

2019 Fitness Index Infographic

This spring saw positive developments for three Asher clients:

American College of Sports Medicine

Today released the 2019 American Fitness Index that ranks America’s 100 largest cities. Funded by the Anthem Foundation, the index evaluates America’s 100 largest cities using 33 health behaviors, chronic diseases and community infrastructure indicators. The top 10 were Arlington, Va.; Seattle, Wash.; Minneapolis, Minn.; San Francisco, Calif.; Madison, Wis.; Washington, D.C.; St. Paul, Minn.; Irvine, Calif.; Denver, Colo.; and Portland, Ore. This is the fifth consecutive year Asher has helped secure media coverage. USA Today was the first placement, a nice way to lead off the project. You can access the full rankings and scores on the American Fitness Index website. How does your city compare?

Children’s MAGIC U.S.

On May 7, I assisted with the Congressional fly-in for the Patients & Providers Coalition for Medical Nutrition Equity (our clients Children’s MAGIC U.S. and Children’s Medical Nutrition Alliance are members). Kaycee Childress, executive director of these two nonprofits and a mother of children who required medical nutrition to survive, is an outstanding advocate for this important issue. Learn more and get involved here. The coalition of patient and provider organizations represents individuals for whom specialized nutrition is medically necessary for treatment of their digestive or inherited metabolic disorder. The group seeks enactment of H.R. 2501, the Medical Nutrition Equity Act.

Appalachian Headwaters

Central Appalachia is “buzzing” with the good work of Appalachian Headwaters, a nonprofit based in West Virginia that is putting people, including displaced coal miners and returning veterans, to work. Its Appalachian Beekeeping Collective trains new beekeeper-entrepreneurs to maintain honey bee hives for profit. Beekeeping can be a great way to earn a sustainable living in rural areas, and the program offers the materials and support necessary to overcome the barriers to getting started. They also keep operating costs low through collective processing and marketing. It has been rewarding to help Appalachian Headwaters identify funding opportunities, assist with media outreach and offer Asher’s capabilities to market its heritage honey and wax products. Many media outlets such as The Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, The Hill newspaper, Citizen Truth, Think Progress and Orion magazine have covered this success story.

You can see why fitness, nutrition and nature are part of our culture at Asher.

Written by Mike Fulton, Asher Agency Director of Public Affairs & Advocacy

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