July 24, 2006

Governor announces “HealthyTip” postcard weekly winners
Contest helps spread message of HealthyKansas initiative

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has announced the first four weekly winners in the HealthyTip Postcard Contest, a summer promotion through the HealthyKansas initiative. The weekly winners range from age 10 to 86.

“These wonderful entries demonstrate how Kansans are thinking about ways to live a healthier life, and it gives us an opportunity to share those ideas with others across our state,” Sebelius said. “We’re looking forward to receiving many more great tips over the next few weeks.”

The HealthyTip Postcard Contest is a promotion through the HealthyKansas initiative and will run through September 5.  Each week a winning tip will be selected and posted to the HealthyKansas Web site – www.healthykansas.org.

“We’re looking for creative tips on exercising more, eating better, and cutting the use of tobacco,” Sebelius said. “The postcard can be as simple or as elaborate as the artist wants it to be. This is a fun and creative way to share healthy messages.”

 Each creator of the winning weekly tip will receive a HealthyKansas t-shirt, and a $20 Gift card for activity shoes from Payless Shoesource. All entries will go into a grand prize drawing to be held on Thursday, Sept. 14 during HealthyKansas Day at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. The grand prize will be a home treadmill from Dick’s Sporting Goods; and two single runners-up prizes of a GARMIN Forerunner101 GPS pedometer.

The first four weekly winners are:
June 26 – Wade Kelly, Lawrence
July 3 -  Robert Seute, Leavenworth
July 10 – Melissa Lakoduk, Meade
July 17 – Savannah Bellem, Prairie Village         

Postcard tips should be geared to the three key audiences for HealthyKansas: students in grades K-12; adults in the workplace; and seniors. The success of HealthyKansas relies on encouraging Kansans to make healthy changes in their lives.

Contest forms and rules are available on the Web site – www.healthykansas.org. Entries can be mailed or sent electronically to healthykansas@kdhe.state.ks.us. While at the Web site, Gov. Sebelius encourages Kansans to take the HealthyKansas pledge.

“I urge all Kansans to join me in taking the HealthyKansas pledge to make a change for better health,” she said.

The HealthyKansas initiative is about encouraging children in schools, adults in the workplace and seniors in their community to make simple, but powerful lifestyle changes, including:

• Increasing physical activity to 30 minutes a day, five to six times each week;
• Eating healthy, including eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily; and
• Eliminating or significantly reducing tobacco use.

Governor Sebelius launched the HealthyKansas initiative in November 2004 as a comprehensive effort to control health care costs, improve the quality of health care and raise awareness of the dangers of obesity in children and adults.

To learn more about how you can improve your health or to complete an on-line pledge card, log onto - www.healthykansas.org.

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