The GoGirlGo! Healthier Hispanic Girls Initiative was launched in Chicago on November 30, 2005, at Humboldt Park Field House.
In conjunction with GoGirlGo! Chicago, the Women's Sports Foundation and the PepsiCo Foundation joined together to activate the female Hispanic community throughout the metro Chicago area.
In one day, 30 girl-serving organizations, which reach a total of 2,000 Hispanic girls, were introduced to GoGirlGo! through a bilingual press conference, curriculum and grant writing training.
The goal of the Healthier Lives for Hispanic Girls Initiative is to reach out to 6,500 Hispanic girls between the ages of 8 to 18 and their families to introduce them to the importance of physical activity in their daily lives taking into consideration culturally relevant issues.
Community leaders, athletes and spokes persons supporting the initiative include:
Sylvia Gomez – CBS 2 News Co-Anchor
Sylvia Perez – ABC 7 News Co-Anchor
Zoraidca Sambolin – NBC 5 News Co-Anchor
Merri Dee – WGN-TV Channel 9, Public Service Director
Luis Gutierez – U.S. Congressman, 4th District, Illinois
Monica Gonzalez, Soccer – Olympian, seven-time Mexican national team member
Willye White, Track & Field – Five-time Olympian
Juanita Jordan – M&J Endowment Fund, Vice Chair
Cheryl Lynn Gudinas, Racquetball – Pan American Games medalist
Billie Jean King – Women's Sports Foundation, Founder
Megan Mawicke – CBS 2 Chicago, Sports Reporter
Pam Schaffrath, Baseball/Football – Member of the Colorado Silver Bullets
Sarah Tueting, Ice Hockey – Two-time Olympic medalist
Bridget Venturi Veenema, Baseball – American Gladiators champion
Hillary Wolf, Judo – Olympian, senior national champion
“Creating a program to get girls in the Hispanic community active is so critical and important to the health of future generations,” stated Jessica Mendoza, Women's Sports Foundation Trustee and Olympic gold medalist softball player. “The benefits of this program will be far-reaching and long-lasting for Hispanic girls and their families.”
“The PepsiCo Foundation is dedicated to advancing the knowledge of how to encourage healthy lifestyle behavior and affect positive changes. We have a particular interest in making these opportunities available to girls who might not otherwise be reached,” said Jacqueline Millan, Director of Corporate Contributions, PepsiCo.
The goal of GoGirlGo! Chicago is to get 100,000 inactive girls moving and keep 100,000 currently active girls from dropping out of physical activity.