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Doctors Hospital At Renaissance Partners With City Of Pharr For Police Department Athletic League Football Camp

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Summer camp provides youth with opportunities for peer development, relationship building with law enforcement officers, and healthy activities in a positive environment

 

      Edinburg, TX—7/23/13—Doctors Hospital at Renaissance (DHR) is a proud partner with the City of Pharr for their Police Department Athletic League (PAL) summer football camp. The City of Pharr PAL program is a recreationally-oriented youth crime prevention program that emphasizes athletics and activities with the intention of encouraging young children and teenagers to stay away from negative lifestyle choices such as gangs, drugs, and criminal activity by offering positive, healthy experiences with law enforcement agents. The football camp is geared toward boys ages 6 – 12. In addition to funding the football camp, DHR provided camp participants and law enforcement officers with health and wellness information, such healthy eating and exercise tips, which they could take home to share with parents and other family members.
       Doctors Hospital at Renaissance’s goal when partnering with the City of Pharr for the summer camp was to promote healthy living and exercise programs, which provide creative opportunities for the reduction of childhood and adolescent obesity. Elizabeth Herrera, RN, Wellness Center at Renaissance Coordinator, spoke to camp participants about “MyPlate,” the newest healthy eating guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (www.choosemyplate.gov). MyPlate emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk products, lean meats and proteins, and discourages saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium, and added sugars. The goal of MyPlate, as explained by Herrera, is to help people make smart choices from every food group in addition to finding a balance between food and physical activity. MyPlate allows users to get the most nutrition out of calories and stay within their daily calorie needs.
          The City of Pharr Police Department PAL program was established in September 2012 and became affiliated with the National Police Athletic League in December 2012. The Pharr Police Department Athletic League’s mission is to provide youth civic, athletic, and recreational opportunities, in combination with educational opportunities and resources to create trust and understanding with police officers. The City of Pharr PAL program’s vision is for the program to be sustained through creativity, diversity, and networking with local youth and their parents. The City of Pharr PAL program is a 501 © 3 non-profit entity that relies on the generosity of the community and other partners to fund its youth services. PAL offers the following sports programs: softball, pony baseball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, tennis, volleyball, boxing, rugby, flag football, and tackle football.
       The National Police Athletics/Activities Leagues, Inc., established in 1940, exists to prevent juvenile crime and violence by providing civic, athletic, recreational and educational opportunities. Today, there are over 400 PAL Member Chapters in law enforcement agencies servicing over 700 cities and 1,700 facilities throughout the United States, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, serving more than one million youth, ages 5 to 18.
             The PAL program is based on the conviction that young people—if they are reached early enough—can develop strong positive attitudes towards police officers in their journey through life toward the goal of maturity and good citizenship. The PAL program brings youth under the supervision and positive influence of a law enforcement agency and expands public awareness about the role of a police officer and the reinforcement of the responsible values and attitudes instilled in young people by their parents.
              The increased number of working parents creates the need for safe, affordable places for children to be during the after-school hours and throughout the summer. In addition, the increased concentration of single-parent and low income families in selected neighborhoods creates the need for affordable programs that can provide positive role models and quality experiences for children and youth. Participation in PAL activities is associated with autonomy and identity development, positive social relationships, and learning conflict resolution, academic success, mental health, and civic engagement
               Studies have shown that if a young person respects a police officer on the ball field, gym or in the classroom, the child will likely come to respect the laws that police officers enforce.  Such respect is beneficial to the youth, the police officer, the neighborhood and the business community. As such, programs such as the City of Pharr Police Department Athletic League have the power to:
·         Provide a safe haven that keeps kids away from violence;
·         Provide an alternative to gangs and street life, allowing kids to develop new skills and interact positively with peers;
·         Offer opportunities to build positive relationships with peers, increase morale and offset the sense of nihilism can cause youth to turn to crime; and
·         Contribute to economic opportunity by providing academic support and job skills.
      For example, in the three years after Baltimore’s Police Department opened a Police Activities League (PAL) afterschool program in one high-crime neighborhood, juvenile crime in the neighborhood dropped nearly 10 percent, and the risk of children and teens becoming crime victims was cut nearly in half. While juvenile victimization rates were coming down for all Baltimore juveniles, the rate in the area served by the PAL program came down nearly three times as fast as it did for the city as a whole (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York. 2002).
                In addition to those seen in Baltimore, many other outcomes are particularly important results of participation in out-of-school time (OST) programs such as police department athletic leagues. According to the National Recreation and Park Association (2010), these outcomes occur for participants, families, and the wider community and include:
1.      Reduction in juvenile delinquency;
2.      Increased positive and reduced negative adolescent behaviors;
3.      Improved educational performance, thus impacting the quality of the future work force and the national economy;
4.      Decreased health care costs related to childhood obesity;
5.      Increased economic contributions of young people to society when they become adults;
6.      Development of self-confidence, optimism, and initiative; and
7.      Reduction parental stress and thus affect healthcare costs and lost job productivity
                 Though still in its infancy, the City of Pharr hopes to see similar results from its Police Department Athletic League programs. For more information, or to find out how you can make a contribution, please call Roel Garza, City of Pharr PAL Executive Director, at 956-402-4725.
Pictured Below (from left to right):  J.C. Aguirre, PAL Coordinator Office; Chief Ruben Villescas, Pharr Chief of Police; Coach Steve Flores, PSJA North High School Head Football Coach; Mario Lizcano, DHR Director of Corporate Affairs; and Roel Garza, PAL Executive Director.
PAL Group Photo
Pharr Police DHR Football Camp
Pictured Below: Elizabeth Herrera, RN, Wellness Center at Renaissance Coordinator, provides healthy eating tips to City of Pharr Police Department Athletic League summer camp participants.
PAL_Southwest HS
Pictured below: City of Pharr Police Department Athletic League camp participants, coaches, and coordinators at PSJA Southwest High School.
PAL_Southwest HS Group
Doctors Hospital at Renaissance continues to be the premier healthcare provider in South Texas. For more information, please call Doctors Hospital at Renaissance at (956) 362-7555 or visit our website at www.dhr-rgv.com.
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