Cherry Hill Township last week was presented with an honor no other municipality in the area has received.
The township became the first in South Jersey to receive a “Healthy Town” designation by the New Jersey Mayors Wellness Campaign. The township was one of two towns to receive this designation this year. Only 16 municipalities in the state have been designated a “Healthy Town” since 2007.
The achievement is a substantial one for Mayor Chuck Cahn, who brought his own Mayor’s Wellness Campaign to Cherry Hill after beginning his first term in office in 2012.
“We weren’t focused on being the first town in South Jersey,” Cahn said of the designation. “We were focused on being the healthiest town in South Jersey.”
“The whole goal of the campaign was to really educate the public that healthy living doesn’t have to be a grand gesture,” township director of communications Bridget Palmer said.
The campaign started small, with the township simply encouraging residents to get out, exercise and take on their own healthy lifestyle. One of the first initiatives in the campaign was a wellness pledge. Palmer said a couple hundred residents have taken the pledge so far.
Over the last two years, the township’s approach has grown to become proactive toward all demographics. Programs co-sponsored by the township, local businesses and other organizations became a larger part of the campaign. Palmer said many of these programs are full, indicating residents have taken to them in a positive manner.
“We have programming in four different categories,” Palmer said. “You have to reach out to children, your seniors, your active adults.”
To receive the “Healthy Town” designation, the township had to establish programs in four categories: youth in motion, seniors in motion, employers in motion and community in motion. Catering to those varied demographics was essential.
The wellness campaign wasn’t just about creating new programs. One of the projects the township took on was gathering information about healthy programs already existing in Cherry Hill and promoting them under the wellness campaign umbrella.
“We have hundreds and hundreds of programs for the year,” Palmer said. “We took inventory of that and really highlighted senior programs, children’s programs and highlighted them with a mayor’s wellness heart.
“In a community this size, there is a ton of activity,” Palmer added.
Township employees also got into the act. Palmer said everyone employed by the township was encouraged to have a health assessment and take accountability for living a healthy lifestyle.
In being the first municipality in South Jersey to receive a “Healthy Town” designation, Cherry Hill is hoping to promote its programs outside the township. The township received its designation partially because of its willingness to provide information about its programs to surrounding municipalities.
The township will continue to promote and expand the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign to try to get as many residents as possible involved. Cahn said residents can join the mayor’s wellness committee by contacting the mayor’s office.
The township is also working on new events, such as a possible restaurant week in the fall, as well as involving new businesses in town such as Lourdes Medical and Whole Foods.
“This is really just the start of it,” Cahn said. “We have so much more on our plates to broaden our perspective on mayor’s wellness.”
“It’s something we’re very proud of,” Palmer said. “It’s something we take seriously.”
