The Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford (BGCH) recently presented Community Excellence Awards for its newly established Community Partner Hall of Fame. The Husky Nutrition program, which is administered by the UConn Center for Public Health and Health Policy, was chosen as an inaugural inductee. Registered dietitian Josh Clauser accepted the award on behalf of Husky Nutrition.

“The Community Partner Hall of Fame Award recipients this year were thoughtfully chosen based on their service this year, and beyond, to our organization, its club members and families,” says Lisa Feliciano with BGCH. “This will become an annual recognition event.”

Along with UConn’s Husky Nutrition, the University of Hartford’s Dance Department and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Injury Prevention Center were also honored as 2012’s most generous, strongest and well-established partnerships.

Husky Nutrition has served BGCH for nine years on a weekly basis at multiple club sites including Asylum Hill, Northwest, Simpson-Waverly, and Trinity.

“They were a natural pick for providing quality, nutrition-based programs, in sync not only with the core elements of our Healthy Habits structure and practices, but with First Lady Michele Obama’s focus on healthy eating as well,” says Feliciano. “Husky’s approach is in tandem with BGCH’s in that good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle, via fun and engaging instruction, can be affordable, attainable and sustainable for our kids and families.

Each year, Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford plans and coordinates an end of the year celebration that highlights club members, their families and their community partners during the school year. This year, the organization recognized outstanding club members in the areas of academic success, good character, citizenship and healthy lifestyles during a red-carpet celebration at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church’s Drew Hall on June 7.

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