SaSC

It must be inscribed in the "Mom's Handbook" or just hardwired into the Mom DNA - take care of the family first and yourself when you get a chance. But the American Cancer Society wants Moms everywhere to know that it's time to "Choose You" to stay healthy and reduce their risk of cancer.

The ACS message to Moms is clear: "In the constant struggle between family, work, and self, we know how difficult it is to focus on you. To help change this, the Choose You program provides the tools and support women need to commit to and achieve their personal health and wellness goals." And this month, the message is "Choose Play in May" as they're looking to inspire 100,000 acts of play for women across the country.

A big part of the campaign is getting the word out that diet and exercise are directly related to your cancer risk. "It's not one thing that's going to change your risk," said Colleen Doyle, Director, Nutrition and Physical Activity at the American Cancer Society, "it's all things combined." To that point, the ACS Choose You campaign is built around 5 simple messages - Eat Right, Get Active, Quit Smoking, Get Regular Health Checks, and Protect Your Skin.

The ACS Choose You movement kicked off it's 2012 push with events in 3 cities this month, including a stop in LA this past week. The concept is simple: Choose Play and get back to fun activities that will keep you healthy and reduce your cancer risk. An ACS survey found that 40% of women said they would be more physically active in their free time if it felt less like work and more like play. So the Choose You events were designed to make fitness fun again, using  hula hoops, hoppity-hop balls and double Dutch jump ropes and the Skip-it (yes, the 80's are making a comeback in more than just music and fashion!).

And how does the health care industry feel about this? Well, just ask the folks at Quest Diagnostics, whose support of the Choose You program includes distributing 10,000 vouchers women can redeem online to schedule a free Blueprint for Wellness® screening at a Quest Diagnostics patient service center. Each screening participant will receive a personalized My 5 to Health report with biometrics and laboratory test results for diabetes and heart disease risk, a Metabolic Syndrome risk score, and a "tear out" summary page they can take to their doctor

While we're certainly the biggest proponents of making social good a priority in the sports industry, we also realize these efforts can have their fair share of challenges, from identifying the right relationship, agreeing on goals to addressing the financial hurdles. And then, there are often logistical issues to making a for-profit/nonprofit collaborative program a reality, especially when scaling up on a level where it can have significant national impact. When you have 635 locations around the country and over 11,000 employees, these issues are a definite reality. But that didn't seem to slow down the folks at Finish Line, one of the nation's leading athletic footwear retailers.

As a company, Finish Line is already well beyond the standard "pick a charity - write the big check - take the photo - get the story" scenario. The company's charitable arm - Finish Line Youth Foundation (FLYF) - has been active since 1998 through grants supporting programs around the country that "place an importance on youth development and a healthy, active lifestyle" as well as emergency funds for disaster relief, providing aid in recent years to the communities of Joplin, Southern Indiana, New Orleans and Haiti.

Black athletes and racism. It's a topic that unfortunately bubbles up to the surface several times a year. And this week was no different.
Wait a minute - this week was VERY different...

Two black athletes, two instances of racism. But the similarities ended there.
Because one was a victim and one a perpetrator.

Detroit Tigers' Delmon Young arrested for hate crime.
Not quite the headline you expect to read in your Saturday morning sports section. According to reports, Young was heavily intoxicated and harassed a pan-handler on the street in New York, yelling anti-semitic remarks

New York police spokesman Joseph Cavitolo told the Detroit Free Press that a confrontation began around 2:30 a.m., after a group of men spoke with a panhandler. Delmon Young, allegedly drunk, exchanged words with the men. According to Cavitolo, Young said, “You bunch of f---ing Jews.” He then pushed one of the men, tackled him to the ground, and then followed the man into the hotel’s lobby. Young was then arrested, and had to be sent to a nearby hospital due to his level of intoxication.

This comes on the heels of the racist "tweets" from Boston Bruins fans directed at Washington Capitals' Joel Ward, after he scored a series ending, game 7 overtime goal in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

Ward handled it in stride, and both the NHL and the Bruins' organization stepped up to denounce the racist comments. The NHL has made big strides with its diversity program Hockey is for Everyone led by ambassador Willie O'Ree - known as the Jackie Robinson of hockey for breaking the color barrier in the 1950's.

I think ESPN's Scoop Jackson summed it up well: "Tweets masked as feelings that weren't about him as much as they were about the society we live in."

Racism in any form is racism. These stories need to get out so we can all recognize that racism and anti-semitism are still issues in the sports community. Whether it be on the field, off the rink, after the game, among players, fans, whomever, whenever, there's no place for it and it needs to stop.

We salute International Women's Day and encourage everyone in the global sports community to eliminate all forms of gender bias...

We just came across two grant opportunities for nonprofit organizations in Arizona and Oregon. Please read through all of the details to see if your organization qualifiies. Details and links to follow...