March 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 60

NRPA Update

NRPA on Capitol Hill

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t the end of February, NRPA joined the Arthritis Foundation, the American College of Rheumatology and other national partners on Capitol Hill
for a day of meetings with Hill staff and a lunchtime briefing highlighting
the high cost ($300 billion) and increasing prevalence of arthritis in the
United States. NRPA's health and wellness program manager, Lesha Spencer-Brown,
participated in a panel discussion in which she shared about the impact that funding
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) arthritis program has
had on the availability and reach of arthritis-appropriate, evidence-based physical activities programs, such as Active Living Every Day, Fit & Strong! and Walk With Ease,
that help improve the health and quality of life for people with arthritis.
Since 2013, one or more of the CDC
arthritis programs has been offered at
more than 140 local park and recreation agencies, including 517 program
sessions offerings at 303 different park
and recreation sites, reaching more
than 12,000 participants nationwide.
To date, NRPA has provided funds to
support programming in 46 states. Unfortunately, with current funding levels, the CDC can only directly fund 12
state health departments and five national organizations, including NRPA,

to disseminate arthritis health information and evidence-based programs.
NRPA asked Congress to fund the
CDC arthritis program at $16 million to
continue its critical work to improve the
quality of life for people with arthritis
nationwide. We thank our partners in the
Arthritis Coalition for our continued collaboration on advocating for the CDC's
Arthritis Program, and the Congressional
Arthritis Caucus for hosting the briefing
and encouraging members of Congress
to make funding for arthritis research and
program dissemination a priority.
If you currently offer one of the
CDC's arthritis programs, invite your
member of Congress to see the program
in action. Contact NRPA's advocacy and
outreach manager, Jayni Rasmussen at
jrasmussen@nrpa.org if you have questions about how to organize a visit.
To learn more about NRPA's arthritis
work, contact Lesha Spencer-Brown at
lspencer@nrpa.org.

Park & Recreation Month Cover Contest

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hoto submissions are now being accepted for our Park and Recreation
Month Cover Contest, so if you'd like your agency to be featured on the
cover of the July issue, get those photos in now.
We're looking for photos that tell a great story about the impact parks and rec
has in your community, and, with this year's theme - " A Lifetime of Discovery " - we'd
love to see photos that showcase the unique, and often undiscovered, offerings of your
agency! The most compelling photos will be put to a public vote on Facebook, and the
photo with the most " likes " will win the coveted cover spot!
We'll be accepting photos now
through March 30, and here are some
things to keep in mind when choosing
which photos to submit:
Is there an interesting and compelling
story behind the photo? Feel free to share
this story in the comments section when
you upload your photo.
* Does the photo include people?

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Parks & Recreation

* Is it a high-resolution (a minimum of
300 dpi) image that's at least 9.25 inches wide by 11 inches tall?
* Is there room at the top of the image
to accommodate the Parks & Recreation logo?
For more information and to submit
your photos, visit www.nrpa.org/events/
july/july-cover-contest, today!

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March 2018 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2018 - Parks & Recreation
