BOSTON and PORTLAND, Maine and HARTFORD, Conn., March 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Thirty lucky YMCA children from around New England gathered today at the Celtics practice facility in Waltham, Mass., to close out the fourth annual #SunLifeFitToWin program.
Celtics players Shane Larkin, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Smart each led a team of kids in a healthy smoothie contest, shared their advice on eating and living healthy, and even showed some moves on the court.
"Being here with these kids is a humbling experience," said Marcus Smart. "It opens your eyes–you see there are things more important than basketball."
"We have the greatest job in the world," said Terry Rozier. "We get to play basketball and give something back to the community."
Fit to Win is a four-week program hosted by the Greater Boston, Southern Maine and Greater Hartford YMCAs. Kids get special tracking sheets where they record their fitness and healthy living activities, such as push-ups, jumping jacks, screen time, and choosing water over soda or juice. At the end of the program, the kids had eaten over 18,000 servings of fruits and vegetables, drank only one – or less - sugary drink for over 4,000 days and spent nearly 200,000 minutes doing a physical activity. About 240 kids from around New England participated, and 30 "top performers" were chosen to make the trip to Waltham and meet the players.
"The Fit to Win program helps kids embrace healthy habits and shows them that physical activity can be fun," said Kathy deCastro, head of Human Resources for Sun Life and board member of the YMCA of Greater Boston. "Sun Life is strongly committed to helping people live healthier, more productive lives, and one of the best ways to do that is to engage children."
Sun Life and the Celtics partner on programs that promote health and wellness for the community, focusing on diabetes awareness and prevention. Each November – Diabetes Awareness Month – they hold the #SunLifeDunk4Diabetes campaign, which raises money for the YMCA of Greater Boston's Diabetes Prevention Program. To date, the #SunLifeDunk4Diabetes campaign has raised nearly $300,000.
Sun Life has donated more than $17 million to the diabetes cause worldwide, and continues support through local and national YMCA programs, as well as the American Diabetes Association's Wellness Lives Here initiative. Sun Life also runs the Team Up Against Diabetes Grant program, which awards funding to various community non-profits around the country focused on diabetes support, education, awareness and care.
Sun Life Fit to Win will return in early 2019!
ABOUT SUN LIFE FINANCIAL:
Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization, providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2017, Sun Life Financial had total assets under management of C$975 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.
In the United States, Sun Life Financial is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than 60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of products and services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life, dental, vision, voluntary and stop-loss insurance. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us
About the Boston Celtics
A charter member of the Basketball Association of America (which evolved into the National Basketball Association) since 1946, the Boston Celtics have won a record 17 NBA Championships, including eight (8) in a row from 1959–1966, winning their first title in 1957 and their most recent in 2008. The Celtics have long stood for equality, and respect, including hiring the first African American Coach and starting the first all-black starting five. In addition, 35 former Celtics players, management or staff have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In December 2002 the team returned to local ownership for the first time since 1963. For more information on the Celtics, log on to www.celtics.com.
Media Contacts:
Devon Fernald
Sun Life Financial
781-416-7151
781-800-3609
Devon.portney.fernald@sunlife.com
Heather Walker
Boston Celtics
617-854-8072
hwalker@celtics.com
SLPC 28937 3/18 (exp 3/20)
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SOURCE Sun Life Financial