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It’s a battle we’re fighting every day!

Hey Everybody,

We’re busy, real busy! I figured I would give you all an idea of what we’ve been up to. We’re working really hard to put together two simultaneous launches. This will be a first for us, and if you can imagine we’re extremely excited. For the past year and a half, Louie’s Kids has been developing its Fit Club program, and we’re beyond fined tuned. If you don’t know anything about the program you’ll have to check out the Fit Club overview, but I can tell you that this program does so much more than teach our kids about nutrition, fitness, and behavior around food. To date, we’ve done 3 launches, and in every single one of those launches we’ve changed lives.

I can rattle off numbers about pounds lost, academic improves, etc… but it is the “Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I noticed Marcus holding his head up a little bit higher when he walks down the hallway” comments that are really worth it. If that one doesn’t do it, we can try the “Mrs. Howard (School nurse at Haut Gap Middle School), I just wanted to say thank you for signing me up for Fit Club”. Or maybe this one “He finally found something that he liked and enjoyed”… Whatever the case, our program works!

I hope that you’ll continue to check in here for updates. We’re looking at doing some more amazing things with our program. North Charleston better watch out because starting February 6th we’ll be at two North Charleston schools. We can’t forget about the Cooper River Bridge Run because Louie’s Kids will be there again! Keep on the lookout.

Be well,
Bucky

Hard to believe it’s almost Christmas and that we’ve only got 4 more Fit Club days left of this year’s launch at Haut Gap Middle School.  It’s really been quite the incredible journey out there.  We’ve had our troubles out oh John’s Island as well, but it’s hard to put into words how many amazing things have happened.  Kids who wouldn’t even look-up are now walking through the hallways of Haut Gap with their heads held high.  Kids who wouldn’t talk are now giving presentations in front of their peers.  Or how about this one, parents of our kids are also losing weight.  They are following the same program we preach day in and day out with their kids, and they are transforming themselves.

So much going on.  Let me quickly recap all of the excitement.  So far this Fit Club, we’ve done a sleepover on Sullivan’s Island and then participated in a fun run, we’ve been bowling, swimming, skating, and had a personal training session, worked out with the Wando Football team and the College of Charleston Men’s and Women’s Basketball team, had some one on one training with the Porter-Gaud Varsity Volleyball team, and had guest instructors including yoga, karate, and soccer.  It’s been incredible watching their transformations.  We’ve got kids losing 10, 15, and 20 plus pounds, and their mile times have improved by 5, 10, and even 15 minutes in some cases.

The list of improvements can go on and on.  Of course, a big THANK YOU goes out to our volunteers.  We also would like to say thank you to the Piggly Wiggly.  This past weekend we met up at the Pig on Saturday morning with several volunteers and nutritionist, and had our store tour with the John’s Island Fit Club kids and parents.  20 plus kids and parents learned that it’s all possible.  The low fat, high fiber diet on budget, and we can do it!

To see pictures posted on Facebook click here, here and here!!

Enjoy and until next time,

Bucky

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brightgeist Media Announces Launch of New Bariatric and Weight Loss Website SkinnyWishes.com Connecting Consumers in Search of Professional Treatment

Skinny Wishes to Donate Portion of Doctor Enlistment Online Fee to Non-Profit Organization Louie’s Kids to Help Fight Childhood Obesity

September 22, 2009 New York, NY – Brightgeist Media Inc., a leader in performance advertising, today announced the launch of SkinnyWishes.com, a bariatric and weight loss website designed to bring consumers in search of professional treatment and physicians together in one intuitive, user-friendly platform. The new website builds on the success of Brightgeist’s current online advertising solution and is among the first services of its kind to specifically address the needs of both the consumer and service providers within the bariatric and weight loss community.

In addition, as part of its corporate mission to help fight obesity, Skinny Wishes will donate a percentage of its doctor enlistment online fee to Louie’s Kids, a nonprofit organization that helps to treat childhood obesity on behalf of economically disadvantaged children nationwide.

SkinnyWishes.com provides an efficient life cycle “roadmap” to help guide individuals searching for professional bariatric and weight loss information in the appropriate direction of a healthier lifestyle. The site features a directory of physicians, weight loss seminars in local regions, and an “Experts Forum” which is an interactive community of physicians, nurses and nutritionists who answer readers’ questions and share their insight on issues and topics related to obesity, weight loss and nutrition. The Forum’s Q&A segment can be followed on Twitter.

In the coming months, SkinnyWishes.com will be introducing new site features including additional professional directories enlisting nutritionists and non-surgical based weight loss clinics; weight loss programs and post maintenance solutions; a comprehensive Spanish- language section; and customizable pages populated with additional user defined bariatric and weight loss content.

“SkinnyWishes.com is committed to connecting consumers searching for bariatric and weight loss solutions with doctors and surgeons by leveraging our network of high quality traffic and content in order to offer a more measurable and meaningful alternative than cluttered online directories,” states chief executive officer of Brightgeist Media Marcela Shine. “Our corporate mission is to arm individuals with the proper knowledge and tools so that they, in turn, can find the service professional that will guide them to a healthier lifestyle. We are pleased that part of the doctors’ enlistment fees will be donated to Louie’s Kids to help fight children’s obesity in the U.S.”

For more information about SkinnyWishes.com or if you are a doctor or service professional who would like to be listed on the site, please visit http://www.skinnywishes.com/signup.

About SkinnyWishes.com

SkinnyWishes.com is a leading bariatric and weight loss site that connects individuals seeking weight loss treatment to service professionals. Our platform delivers the tools necessary to make  this connection more meaningful and efficient. SkinnyWishes.com is owned by Brightgeist Media, a leader in performance advertising since 2004.

About Brightgeist Media, Inc.

Brightgeist Media, a leader in performance advertising, connects consumers to the right service professionals through relevant information and compelling content. Our vision is to optimize the quality of this connection efficiently using our network of high quality traffic and lead generation.

Since 2004, Brightgeist Media has been a leader in property based lead generation and is a publisher of high quality networks including financial, health and legal. The company started as a supplier of financial leads and has since expanded into multiple channels and media. Brightgeist Media is headquartered in New York City.

Hey everybody! It’s Bucky here and I’ve got an update for you for our John’s Island launch of Fit Club. It has really been amazing out on John’s Island. The staff at Haut Gap has really been amazing! They are extremely supportive not only for our program, but to many others that are also at the middle school.  Right now, everyone is working tirelessly to bring everything we can to our kids out there.  So far this Fit Club we’ve really increased our fitness component.  We’ve already done karate, a little football, and some serious cardiovascular activities.  Two weeks ago, we also had a visit from Brooke Kotcella and Tony White Jr. from the College of Charleston’s Mens and Womens Basketball Teams.  They helped us put on a mini clinic for our kids.  It was a great day and we end that day with a basketball signing!

We also had our first trip to the pool.  We brought 15 kids off of John’s Island and into the city.  Over half the kids have never seen a pool before and almost all of the kids have never swam before!  It was so exciting for me to beable to share a part of my life with these kids that day.  I’ve included a photo from the pool visit and there are more on my facebook page and you can click here to see them.  By the end of the hour, we had all the kids swimming by themselves.  As always we’re only as good as the good people we surround ourselves with, and that day we had some amazing volunteers (all former collegiate swimmers) to lend a helping hand.

What is upcoming for Fit Club??  Well, we’ve got less than 10 weeks left and already we’ve lost over 60 pounds collectively.  The next 9 weeks will really be an adventure.  We’ve got the TrySports’ van coming out to John’s Island to outfit the kids is state of the art athletic shoes.  We’ve got a few more guest fitness instructors coming soon including yoga and volleyball.  The Yoga Marathon at Marion Square is happening on the tenth of October from 12-3, and we’ll have some of the kids out there participating.  There’s a great Halloween run happening on October 24 to support Louie’s Kids and we’ll be out there running the race with everybody else!

As you can see we are busy, and we do not have plans to slow down.  We can always use a helping hand so if you’re interested please connect with us using the volunteer button.  Please stay tuned and keep your eyes on the look out for us.

Thanks!!

Big Chef/ Little Chef

Well first, let me start by saying thank you to everyone who continues to support us here at Louie’s Kids.  This summer has been unbelievable for us.  It is hard to believe the school is only a few days away now.  This summer, we continued to have our Saturday activities and it has been great out at Mitchell Elementary.  We’ve done a lot walking, swimming, some water aerobics, some yoga, self defense, and even a little conquering of the bridge.  We’ve had a few great fundraisers this summer too starting with being apart of a display at the Civic Design Center with some other local non-Profits.   As part of this display, we were given the opportunity to use the Civic Design as we saw fit.  So Louie’s Kids held a magical event there known as Big Chef/ Little Chef.  We matched up Charleston’s Best Chef with four of our participants.  It was so amazing watching all the action unfold.

We also competed in the Daniel Island Kids Triathlon.  We had three of our Fit Clubbers out there who trained in all three areas of swimming, biking, and running.  Not only did we compete, but we ended up having one of our Fit Clubbers take home a third place finish in her age group.  That was a great surprise for us that day!  A special thanks goes out to TrySports.

Looking ahead we’ve got a lot going on.  First, is our upcoming launch at Haut Gap Middle School out on John’s Island.  We’ve been preparing for this one all summer long.  Next we’ve got some big fundraisers coming up including the Yoga Marathon and a Halloween fun run.  Keep your eyes on the look out as we prepare and get things moving forward with all this stuff.  It’s going to be a great upcoming year for us here at Louie’s Kids.  We can’t thank you enough to all who continue to support us not only financially but all those who send us encourage hope and prayers.  We’re continuing to spread our message and we are always looking for volunteers who are as passionate as we are.

We’ve also been blessed by Charleston Magazine and they recently published a profile in support of Louie’s Kids.  What a wonderful honor once again reminding us how blessed we really are!.  The link can be found here.  Also check out the PGA link on our home page.

Stay tuned for more.  We’re only getting started as this school year approaches.

-Bucky

Big Chef Little Chef Challenge

Taste what some of Charlestons best chefs and Louies Kids FitClub participants whip up for an Iron Chef competition like no other.

When: Thursday August 6, 2009. 6:30-9:00pm.

Where: Civic Design Center, 85 Calhoun St, Charleston SC

$35.00 in advance
$40.00 @ the door
email louis@louieskids.org to purchase tickets

Join us for cooking challenge to benefit Louie’s Kids and the fight against obesity.

Click here to download the PDF (250kb)

Hi Everyone,

We’ve got another big weekend planned.  I’on is planning a fitness expo with a swim-a-thon and a 5hour spinning marathon all to benefit Louie’s Kids!!

Please come on out and join us.  It’s this Saturday, May 9th.  It’s another all day event so bring a friend and a smile.. and maybe  some sunscreen!  Check out the link here

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you there,

Bucky

Hey Everyone!!

This Saturday, April 4th, keep your eyes on the look out for Louie’s Kids.  We’re going to have a group of our kids plus a few tag alongs walking the bridge together for the Bridge Run.  We’re all very excited about this race.  We’ve been training hard over the past several weeks getting ready for this 10k.  Just like many of the other participants we plan on not just walking the Bridge Run but also jogging through parts of it.

It’s hard to imagine, but a few of our kids finally got on the bridge for the first time three weeks ago.  It was such an emotional moment for us all.

A very special thanks needs to go out to Jerry Scheer who is helping us organize an overnight with all of our participants so that we can have them all together for the walk/run.

We’ll be getting pictures up soon for all to see.  Thanks and stayed tuned.

-Bucky