Student Spotlight

Rocio is a Senior at Hamilton High School and will be starting her 2nd year with the j.k. livin program. Despite being the girls Lacrosse manager, volunteering at her church, babysitting her two nieces and attending Anime club during lunch, Rocio had perfect attendance in the jkl program this past year! Since joining the jkl program she is starting to make healthier food choices and has more energy. Every week Rocio looks forward to exercising with her peers and participating in the gratitude circle which helped her with her fear of public speaking. After her senior year is complete, Rocio would like to explore a career in sound engineering. Rocio said, “ I love going to jkl every Monday and Wednesday because of the positive energy and the fact that my mom works nights and it gives me a place to be productive and not just be at home alone waiting a long time for her and doing nothing.”

A Fun and Productive Annual Teacher Training

On Monday June 27th and Tuesday June 28th, 55 just keep livin instructors from our programs across the country gathered in Los Angeles for a two-day comprehensive “Teacher Training” that we run each year. We brought our teachers and some of our nonprofit partners in from New Orleans, Washington D.C., Dallas, Austin, Nashville and San Antonio to join our LA contingent for brainstorming sessions, the sharing of best practices, discussing program strengths and areas for growth, as well as some good food, fitness and fun!

Our out of town guests stayed right on the water at the Jamaica Bay Inn in Marina Del Rey, where they got to experience the true California lifestyle, complete with a morning yoga session on the beach taught by the amazing Kirschen Hagenlocher. Microsoft generously donated their modern and comfortable lounge space in Venice for us to use for the bulk of our training, as well as provided us with delicious breakfast and lunch spreads to help keep everyone’s energy up! Then it was on to the beautiful Pacific Palisades home of our Advisory Board Member Robin Berman for an outdoor hip hop class taught by j.k. livin Program Manager Leon. The group worked up a sweat, marveled at the amazing views, and enjoyed healthy and tasty fresh juices donated by Clover Juice. We want to thank all of our sponsors who generously helped to underwrite this experience!

It is always such a special experience to get all of our “talent on the ground” together to participate in team building exercises and learn from one another and our team of experts. Thank you, just keep livin instructors, for all of the amazing work you do and your dedication to empowering young people to make better choices for a healthier tomorrow!

Los Angeles Dodgers Field Trip

On July 5th, 25 of our just keep livin students from Manual Arts and Animo Inglewood high schools were given the opportunity to enjoy an incredible experience at Dodgers Stadium, as a part of their “Dre Dayz” night. The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation hosted them for the evening in outfielder Andre Ethier’s personal suite, escorted them onto the field to view the Dodgers batting practice from behind home plate, and gave them a “behind-the-scenes” tour of the trophy hall. Ethier, through his New Balance partnership, also gifted the students with new shoes, clothing, and backpacks from the brand that the kids couldn’t wait to wear! The group also got a kick out of appearing on the DodgerVision video screen during the game, along with a special shout out by the announcer. Despite the Dodgers’ 4-1 loss to the Orioles, the kids had a blast cheering for their home team! What a great way to kick off our partnership with our new funder, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. We’re excited about growing our program at Manual Arts when the new school year kicks off, thanks to the support of the LADF! Thanks also to Andre Ethier and New Balance for providing such a special and fun-filled evening for our students.

USC Summer Guitar Seminar Class

On July 12th, a group of students from the just keep livin program at Animo South Los Angeles High School had the opportunity to visit the Rauben Heimer Music Building on the campus of USC. The jkl students enjoyed a music rehearsal presented by the USC Summer Guitar Class which is taught by Shea Welsh. Our just keep livin students were able to learn more about what the music program at USC offers as well as hear the background on each performer. During the performance, our own Zion Walker was able to share some of his artistic pieces with the group! He is a talented up-and-coming artist. After the concert, students enjoyed a brief tour of the campus and a nice group lunch.

Run with the just keep livin Foundation

Each year we support the Los Angeles Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. We’re putting together “Team just keep livin” where you can sign up to run with us and get lots of cool perks (including a j.k. livin race day t-shirt and wristband!), in addition to helping raise money for our programs. You could also be entered in a drawing to win autographed Matthew McConaughey memorabilia! Our goal is to reach $30,000 - enough to sponsor a program at an inner-city high school for an entire year. You will also get to hang with the kids in our LA programs, who are gearing up to run and volunteer at the event again this year.

Anyone who’s interested in joining our team should CLICK HERE for more information or SIGN UP HERE TODAY!

Camila Alves McConaughey Launches
Yummy Spoonfuls, a Frozen Organic Baby Food

We want to congratulate our just keep livin Foundation Co-Founder Camila Alves McConaughey on the recent launch of Yummy Spoonfuls, her line of organic baby food sold exclusively by our Foundation partner, Target! Camila has always had a commitment to health and wellness, and this passion of hers extends to her three children as well. When Camila and her partner Agatha Achindu could not find fresh, nutritious food for their children available in the U.S., they decided to make it themselves. Yummy Spoonfuls considers itself your “kitchen away from home,” providing busy parents with frozen baby food made from tasty, wholesome ingredients – no preservatives, additives, or fillers. The vision for the company is to redefine healthy eating for a new generation. Look for it in the freezer aisle of your local Target!

just keep livin Foundation Selected as a
Target ® Wellness Grant Recipient

The just keep livin foundation was recently selected by Target as one of the first Target wellness grant recipients, a diverse set of small and large organizations that address a wide scope of programs to promote and inspire access to healthy eating and active living. Together, Target and partners will work to help drive sustained changes, finding new ways to help overcome barriers to wellness in our communities across the country.

Target is granting more than $40 million this year to help fund new partnerships and programs in the wellness space committed to increasing the consumption of nutrient-dense food and increasing physical activity of kids and families across the country. With this generous grant of $180,000, our organization is able to establish six new just keep livin programs, which will benefit upwards of 200 additional students! We will be opening these new programs in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., at two new schools, respectively, in each city. We are so grateful to Target for allowing us to serve even more kids through our after-school fitness and wellness programs, and we're looking forward to a fruitful partnership!

It’s 2016. Let’s Bring Food Stamps Online

Hunger is a huge national problem. A whopping 15 million kids live in food insecure households; that means one in four doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from. And although 46.5 million people rely on food stamps (SNAP benefits) to help supplement their budgets, we need to change the way the program is used in order to make sure kids can get the wholesome food they need to grow up healthy.

Currently, those who receive assistance can only use their food stamps at a select number of qualifying brick-and-mortar retailers. That severely limits the options for the 23.5 million people who live in food deserts—sometimes hours away from a SNAP-approved grocery store. And surprisingly, although only 30 percent of those who live at or below the poverty line have access to a car, 74 percent do have internet access. That’s why our partners Thrive Market recently launched a petition to make food stamps available for online use.

Join the movement and sign the petition at ThriveAction.org.

Coaches Corner with Jenn Zerling

Toned Shoulders in 4 Moves

Everyone wants sculpted shoulders, especially during beach season. So while sculpting your chest, back and arms are top priority, most fitness enthusiasts want to top off their bodies with defined shoulders through all 3 deltoid heads.

Be mindful that the shoulder complex is a very mobile joint lending its vulnerability to injury if your exercise program isn't carefully chosen. People who lift every day (along with athletes such as baseball pitchers, tennis players, volleyball players, golfers to name a few) put a lot of wear and tear on their shoulder muscles, tendons and joints. Repetitive movements can cause injuries so choosing the right program is essential to preserving shoulder health.

According to Beverly Hills based Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr Raj, "Training your shoulders is key to keeping them strong. Be sure to maintain good biomechanical form during physical activity while lifting and in sports. Be sure to avoid lifting objects that are too heavy for you. The best gauge to knowing if something is too heavy for you is if you have to overcompensate to lift the item by swinging through your back or protracting your shoulders and throwing your neck forward, then you most likely need to reduce your weight. Athletes should also consider resting in between games from those movements used in the game to avoid overuse injuries."

This workout is a game changer for most of you. Do it, and let me know what you thought. The workout is HERE on the Huffington Post!