Happy Holidays from LMCTC!

Looking Back on 2014:

2014 was a big year for Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC), with local elected officials across the country making fantastic progress to transform their cities and counties into healthier places. Here’s an overview of our national accomplishments:

• Nearly 460 mayors, city council members, county commissioners and other local elected officials have joined LMCTC.
• This means that nearly 70 million Americans are now living in communities that are dedicated to helping young people eat healthy foods and be physically active.
• All 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have a participating city, town or county involved in LMCTC.
• National League of Cities has awarded over 2,000 bronze, silver and gold medals to participating local elected officials.
• 23 cities, towns and counties have earned gold medals in all five LMCTC goals and received national recognition at NLC’s Congress of Cities in November 2014.

Moving Ahead in 2015:

While we have a lot to celebrate in communities across the country, there’s a lot more work to be done to improve the livability of cities and allow children the opportunity to reach their full potential. Make 2015 the year you jumpstart your city’s or county’s efforts to improve your community’s health. We’ve identified some easy ways to get started on your efforts:

• Connect with your U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Let’s Move! Advisor Did you know that every LMCTC site has a regionally-focused Let’s Move! Advisor to support you in achieving the five goals? Contact information for Let’s Move! Advisors is available here.
• Bring together key partners. Your city or county government can convene different city departments, county agencies, school districts and community- and faith-based organizations. Consider creating a Let’s Move! or Childhood Obesity Task Force in your community, or aligning with an existing health or wellness task force.
• Create an action plan for your efforts. Your HHS Let’s Move! Advisor can provide guidance in designing a plan for moving forward to reach five gold medals. You may find there are goals that will be relatively easy for you to achieve, which can spur action and establish or sustain momentum. Your action plan could also include a timeline that breaks down the more difficult goals into manageable steps.
• Learn more and access resources. We have a wide variety of resources available to support you in achieving the five LMCTC goals. Check out the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties Resource Guide, recorded webinars, and our collection of resources available to help you complete each goal area.
• Plan a Let’s Move! Anniversary event. The 5th Anniversary for Let’s Move! is coming up in February. We’ll send you additional information soon, but it’s never too early to start thinking about fun events and activities to do in February to celebrate.

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season,

The Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties Team
(lmctc@nlc.org /202-626-3012)