SALT Addresses Health/Wellness Issues Facing Today’s Youth

ALTON - Sports participation has been a tool of public health in America for more than a century, serving as a platform for developing critical life skills, and for encouraging active, healthy lifestyles for participants.

Sports - particularly youth sports - hold the potential to contribute so much to society as a vehicle to drive outcomes that matter in areas such as health, youth development, community revitalization and social connection. But today, many children miss out for various reasons, including the following: lack of safe neighborhood recreation spaces, rising costs and exclusionary league/team policies, excessive time demands on families and cultural norms.

Studies indicate that as many as one out of three children and teens are overweight or obese. Lack of physical activity contributes to this condition, and inactive children often become inactive adults.

SALT partnered with Common Threads, a non-profit organization founded in Chicago in 2003, to address the health/wellness issues facing today’s youth, particularly those children and families in under-resourced communities. The mission of SALT is to facilitate communication and support between athletic teams and create a vehicle for student-athlete representation campus wide. The council will provide insight on the student-athlete experience at the University. The council will plan one community service project and social event each semester. SALT will promote leadership opportunities and diversity throughout the athletic program. The NAIA Champions of Character core values will be discussed and incorporated in all meetings and events.

Through the “Small Bites” program, SALT has provided cooking and nutrition education for disease prevention to children in Alton. The “Small Bites” program teaches pre-K to eighth grade students healthful, knife- and heat-free cooking and nutrition while incorporating math, language arts and science per state Common Core standards. 3/4.

Who oversees the charity/non-profit? How many employees/volunteers are involved with the charity/non-profit? At present, SALT is managed by Damian Jones, the Executive Director of the organization, as well as his wife, Dr. Dee Dee Jones, who serves as the Wellness Coordinator for the organization. In addition, the organization has two volunteers who have assisted with the organization’s programs. Dave Scott, caterer/food service professional coordinates much of the cooking programming and Kristen Gaither, an Alton resident, has assisted in program planning/implementation.

SALT’s goals for 2019-2020 are to hopefully expand its program offerings into the Alton School District through after-school initiatives, starting with soccer-based programming. SALT is presently entering into an agreement with the US Soccer Foundation, the major charitable arm of soccer in the US, to offer the “Soccer for Success” program to Alton/Godfrey youth. “Soccer for Success” is the US Soccer Foundation’s free soccer-based after-school program that uses soccer as a tool to combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles for children, with particular emphasis on children in under-resourced communities. SALT will be the first and only

“Soccer for Success” program in Southern Illinois or the St. Louis metropolitan area. In addition, SALT is endeavoring to position itself to potentially partner with the anticipated St. Louis MLS expansion franchise, should the pending bid with the league prove to be successful.

With regard to fundraising initiatives, several avenues are presently under consideration. Examples of events being discussed include a charity golf tournament in the summer of 2020, as well as a dinner auction featuring sports memorabilia from area sports heroes.

In addition to the assistance of the volunteers mentioned above, SALT is very fortunate to have Mr. Lou Brock, the former St. Louis Cardinal and MLB Hall-of-Famer, as a board member. Mr. Brock, a long-time family friend of Mr./Mrs. Jones, has provided the organization with guidance/support, drawing upon decades of experience as both an American sports icon, as well as well as through his efforts to support youth/children’s charities and programs in the St. Louis metro area.

For all inquiries re: the mission/objectives of SALT, as well as any interest in volunteer opportunities or to submit donations, please contact Mr. Damian Jones. At the time of this writing, the newly-formed organization’s website is under construction (www.saltyouth.org), but Mr. Jones may be contacted via email at damian.jones@saltyouth.org, or by cell phone at (618) 960-4475.

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