First Lady Announces Video Contest For Let's Move! Campaign; Winners Visit White House

Speaking in Longwood, Florida at Northland, A Church Distributed on Saturday, First Lady Michelle Obama highlighted the second anniversary of the Let’s Move! campaign by announcing the "Communities on the Move Video Challenge." She invited faith-based, community, and other non-profit organizations to enter the contest with "inspiring videos about their efforts to reverse the trend of childhood obesity." The deadline is April 6, and winners will be announced in June. Full details after the jump.

"The challenge will recognize community efforts that promote healthy lifestyles for kids by encouraging nutritious eating through USDA’s MyPlate icon, increasing physical activity, and/or ensuring access to healthy, affordable foods," according to the White House. Winners will be invited to visit the White House, Mrs. Obama said, in addition to receiving cash prizes. A full post about Mrs. Obama's visit to Northland IS HERE.

“America’s faith communities play a crucial role in guiding and strengthening not only our spiritual health, but our emotional and physical health as well,” Mrs. Obama said. “Over the past two years, I’ve been inspired by all of the faith leaders and congregations who have taken action to get active and eat healthier, and so we’re launching our Let’s Move! video contest to highlight some of the best examples. I know there’s so much incredible work being done – and I can’t wait to hear some of these stories first-hand at the White House.”

The contest details...
Videos should be between one to three minutes long, have a clear connection to Let’s Move!, and describe how the organization entering has worked to improve the wellness of children. The organization may operate at the national or local level. Videos must focus on topics in one or more of three areas of interest: (1) healthy eating, (2) physical activity, and/or (3) access to healthy, affordable food. At some point in the video, the video must direct viewers towww.letsmove.gov for more information. For more guidance about the areas of interest, view the MyPlate Community Toolkit available at the Resources section of www.communities.challenge.gov.

There will be two winning entries selected – a First Prize winner judged by a panel of experts from Let’s Move!, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, and a Popular Choice winner selected through public voting.

Both winners will be invited to Washington, D.C. for a Let’s Move! event where they will have a special opportunity to showcase their video. They each will receive an award of $1000 to defray travel costs. In addition, up to seven Honorable Mention winners will be selected by our same panel of experts and invited to Washington, DC as well. All the winners will have their videos featured on theLet’s Move! website

Administration of the video challenge is provided by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. To learn more about MyPlate, visit www.ChooseMyPlate.gov.

CLICK HERE for all posts about the First Lady's anniversary tour.