Skip McNevin is on a mission to reduce childhood obesity. Now he just needs the children.
“We’re hoping to get more than we had last year,” said McNevin, the founder of the Fitness Club for Kids and father of three. “I think we’ll do it.”
The club is a La Cañada Flintridge-based nonprofit summer program run in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. McNevin founded the program in 2007 with the help of West Coast Boot Camp founder Adrian Pietrariu.
Last year, more than 180 kids from the community participated in McNevin’s programs.This year’s session is scheduled to begin July 23 in La Crescenta’s Two Strike Park, where classes are scheduled to run from $5 to $20 per day.
This year, McNevin, 48, is poised to add a new wrinkle to the summer program with low-impact-workout classes for senior citizens in Two Strike Park — an addition lauded by Crescenta Valley Town Council Mayor Grace Andrus.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “It’s very difficult for many of them to walk because of the hills. So light aerobic classes and fresh air is very important. We need more activities [for seniors]. We don’t have nearly enough.”
The main program, however, is aimed at children 6 to 13, who can choose between a variety of sports and fitness activities taught by certified trainers and student-athletes from local high school and colleges in Southern California. There are also classes on nutrition and healthy eating.
The program’s roots trace back at least two years to a time when McNevin and Pietrariu led children’s fitness classes at schools around Los Angeles.
“We were doing all these things, like showing up at different schools, and we got more and more excited,” Pietrariu said. “We got people telling us, ‘We like what you guys do,’ and we turned it into a nonprofit program in 2007.”
McNevin has raised about $5,000, most of it from private donations and grant money.
“As a nonprofit, our focus is clearly not on making individual profit from the venture, but rather from tackling a challenging issue facing our community in a way where we can make an impact and in doing so help people live healthier lives,” McNevin said.
