Ridley-Tree Cancer Center has expanded its partnership with United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC) Fun in the Sun (FITS) to implement a Healthy Living Program. The partnership educates and promotes healthy living and lifestyle in FITS participants 2nd through 12th grades.
FITS is a free six-week program that addresses summer learning loss and pandemic-related learning loss through hands-on, project-based lessons, utilizing the best services and ideas from 80-plus local public and private organizations.
Students engage in academic rotations focused on literacy and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), as well as participate in social, emotional and mental wellness activities.
Ridley-Tree Cancer Center’s Healthy Living Program will provide their Sun Safety curriculum called RAYS, which has lessons on sun safety, skin cancer awareness, and how to enjoy the sun in a safe, healthy way. They have also donated sunscreen and canopies for every site.
Ridley-Tree Cancer Center also donated to support FITS’s expanded bike program in partnership with the Santa Barbara Bike Coalition/BiCi Centro. Students will be able to learn how to safely ride in their community and learn how to maintain their bikes. Some students have never had an opportunity to ride bikes of their own.
Ridley-Tree Cancer Center’s partnership is a key component of Fun in the Sun. With students having been indoors for much of the year, they will be able to get back into healthy physical activity habits.
Through the expanded bike program, students will gain confidence in their riding skills, learn bicycle maintenance skills, and learn how to ride safely in their communities on safe bike routes in their neighborhoods.
Parents and students also will be able to continue to develop biking skills through their local BiCi Centro chapters during the year.
“The Ridley-Tree Cancer Center has partnered with Fun in the Sun for 20 years to encourage healthy habits around sun safety,” said Lisa Winebrenner, Wellness and Community Outreach manager of the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center.
“We are excited to now expand our partnership to include the biking program so that students will be encouraged to get outside and exercise.,” she said. “Establishing healthy habits when kids are young can help lower their risk of developing cancer later in life.”
“We are extremely grateful that the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center has expanded its partnership with us for Fun in the Sun with so many students in need of extra support this year,” said Steve Ortiz, president/CEO of United Way.
“Now that restrictions have lifted, it is very important to help students cultivate mental and physical wellness through time outdoors,” he said.