DETROIT - Michigan Surgeon General Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom will be hosting the second meeting of the Generation With Promise Community Advisory Regional Experts (CARE) Statewide Committee Meeting on May 7, 2009 from 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing.

Generation With Promise (GWP) is a $5-million project funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and led by Dr. Wisdom. It is designed to empower middle school youth to be actively involved in making decisions about their health and to drive policy, environmental and behavior change.

A "Student Bill of Rights," signed by more than 200 middle schoolers at the GWP Youth Summit held March 31 in Dearborn, will be presented at the meeting. The students who sign the banner are members of their schools' Student Action Teams (SATs) which have developed action plans around physical activity, nutrition and smoking prevention. Lawmakers, health professionals, and youth development experts will be in attendance to hear students voice their concerns about creating healthy changes in their schools.

A youth panel that will allow students to speak directly to policymakers will be part of the afternoon session. The adult panel will include State Sen. Martha Scott of Highland Park, Kyle Guerrant of the Michigan Department of Education and Rev. Gregory Roberts from Governor Granholm's Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives. They will respond to the students and take part in a dialogue before the CARE audience to address health issues raised by the student panel.

"My hope is that the GWP vision, of healthier youth driving policy change to result in future generations of healthier youth, will be realized across the state and nation. It is important that youth understand the healthy changes they are making now to 'move more, eat better and not smoke' will be beneficial to their futures," said Dr. Wisdom. "In order to ensure those healthy changes have lasting value, we need to ensure there is a plan in place to support them."

At their initial meeting in December 2008, CARE members brainstormed ways to lessen health disparities among youth in underserved communities. Those ideas will be prioritized at the May meeting and developed into action plans. CARE members will then sign "I CARE Cards" to show their support and commitment to GWP.

They will also place their signatures alongside the student names on the "Student Bill of Rights." The banner, which is nearly 25 feet long, will be presented to lawmakers at a later date.

GWP is organized through the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH). The project links Governor Granholm's Cities of Promise initiative in underserved communities with MDCH and the "Michigan Steps Up" healthy lifestyles initiative. The four-year project empowers Student Action Teams to drive change related to health priorities for their schools. Sixteen schools in Detroit, Benton Harbor, Highland Park, and Hamtramck have received GWP grants of $25,000 for each year they are involved in the project.

In addition to the Cities of Promise, other GWP partners are the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, Health & Sports/Michigan Fitness Foundation, Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Action for Healthy Kids Coalition, Cities of Promise, Detroit, Wayne, Oakland, and Berrien county health departments, Healthy Kids Healthy Michigan Coalition, Henry Ford Health System, the Michigan State University Extension, University of Michigan and Wayne State University.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." The Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas, including health, food systems and rural development, youth and education, and philanthropy and volunteerism. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

For further information, please visit the Foundation's Web site at www.wkkf.org.