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Try This Checklist

Try This checklist

Healthy lifestyle opportunities = attractive, healthy community = big economic development advantage.

 

* Find the community planning checklist here.

* Find a personal checklist here.

 

 

This checklist includes every activity square on the Try This Web site. It is a quick and efficient roadmap that will help you:

 

* develop a range of healthy lifestyle activities in your community as a health/economic development plus

* take a broad look at your community’s healthy lifestyles efforts.

* compare, choose, and prioritize projects.

* become familiar with a wide range of activities and resources your community could try and use

* work as a community team team in an organized way, to plan for a healthier community

* write well-researched grant applications

* find out what other West Virginia communities are doing, so you can contact/visit their projects

 

Every item on the Try This checklist is linked to a resource page on the Try This Web site.

If you want to know more about an activity, click on the link. You’ll find resources and West Virginia examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Healthy eating: the community as a whole
 Activity  1 2 3 4 5 Notes
 Start/expand a farmers’ market
 Plant community gardens
Get convenience stores to sell fresh produce
Build community greenhouse
Find ways todistribute/package/sell locally-grown foods
Encourage home gardening
Promote food preservation
Feature healthy items in grocery stores
Set up healthy cooking classes
Teach people to read labels and comparison-shop
Make your food pantries healthier
Encourage breastfeeding

 

 

Physical activity: community
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 Notes
RUNNING/WALKING PROGRAMS Start/expand a local running/walking club
Start/expand kids’ running programs
Offer challenges and group competitions to get people involved
 Offer beginning running classes
Organize a monthly local 5K
Build and connect trails
Build sidewalks to encourage walking
Map your walking/running/hiking trails
BIKING PROGRMAS Start a road biking group
Encourage mountain biking
Put up bike racks in your community
Encourage bike stores
Adopt a complete streets policy
Do a walkability/bikeability assessment
Make a safe biking map
Apply to be a bike-friendly community
WATER SPORTS Get people out onto rivers and lakes
Create watershed association to protect & promote streams
Open safe public access points to rivers & lakes
Get river designated as an official water trail
Encourage fishing
ACTIVE KIDS PROGRAMS Start youth sports league
Add physical activity to afterschool programs
Create active summer programs
Organize a Girls on the Run program

 

Things local officials can do
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 Notes
Help create a community conversation group
Join or help form a healthy lifestyles development group
Adopt a complete streets policy
Approve shared- used agreements to use public buildings/school gyms after hours
Help create public access to rivers and lakes
Support water trail designation
Create bike parking
Make it legal to raise food & small animals in town
Build sidewalks
Make it legal to raise food & small animals in town
Use the media to promote wellness

 

Healthy eating in schools
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 Notes
Expand/create a Farm to School program
Create a school gardening program
Build school high tunnel greenhouses
Teach kids nutrition: How to make healthy food choices
Teach healthy cooking: cook the food you raise
Use healthy snacks as teaching tools
Support efforts to make school meals more nutritious
Provide healthy school breakfast
Pay attention to presentation of school food
Create healthy child care programs

 

 

 

Physical Activity: Schools
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 Notes
Weave physical activity through the school-day
Get everyday recess in schools
Start a school wellness program
Organize a Girls on the Run chapter
Create school walks; run-for-fun groups; school fitness trails
Get kids jumping rope & other aerobic activities

 

Chronic disease prevention
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 Notes
Start a diabetes coalition
Offer anti-diabetes classes at libraries and public buildings
Create school-based health centers

 

 

Part 2: Planning projects. Good questions to ask.

If you answer them now, you’ll avoid problems down the road.

 

Something else that will help: Read the Try This Guide to Local Project Funding to find out what funders want and expect.

Most funders expect evidence that you have done this kind of planning. This checklist and worksheet can be sent to potential funders to show that you’re doing it.

 

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Project name:

 

  1. Who is already working on this activity and what are they doing?       (e.g. If you want to start a farmers market, who is already selling by the road? Who is working on healthy diet? Etc.)
  2. Who should be at the planning table and help take first steps? (Think beyond agencies: individual community members, retired people, churches, service groups, youth groups, sports groups, local government, Extension … )
  3. Who already LOVES this activity? How can we get them involved?
  4. Who/what organization will take the lead on this?
  5. Where could we carry out this activity?
  6. What resources will we need to get started?
  7. What groups or people could contribute resources? For each, list what they might contribute. (If you’ve read your funding guide, you know funders love to see evidence that you’ve started trying to help yourself. They also want to know there are a range of local groups supporting this project.)
  8. Who will contact these groups about the project?
  9. Resources/funding (How much do we think this would cost? What can we get donated?
  10. Who will read the funding guide and work on funding?
  11. Our next meeting will be: