The Chris Draft Family Foundation’s sole mission is to strengthen communities by empowering families to live healthy lifestyles through a national movement of self-awareness and education.  One of the ways in which the foundation has set out to achieve this is through its Get Checked & Get Fit Initiative, which centers around providing youth and families with knowledge about physical fitness, nutrition, and health maintenance, and also giving them access to tools and opportunity to make healthier choices.

Get Checked and Get Fit™ focuses on inspiring and motivating individuals to take charge of their health and well-being.  With an emphasis on educating through example, the Foundation sponsors signature events called Get Checked and Get Fit™ Draft Day® across the country.  The Draft Day® curriculum consists of sessions for both youth and parents, specially designed to give families both opportunity and tools to Get Informed…..Get Active…..and Get Healthy!

Attempting to take this initiative even further, The Draft Family Foundation hopes to partner with the Toronto Community Foundation in the future to bring “Draft Day International” to Toronto.  Chris Draft recently connected with the foundation as he helped to announce their new initiative, the Beyond 3:30 Program, an innovative program designed to provide a safe, stimulating place for middle school students to gather between the hours of 3:30 and 8:00pm.

Led by the Toronto Community Foundation, one of Canada’s largest charities; the Toronto District School Board’s Model Schools for Inner Cities Initiative; and the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, the arms length charitable foundation of the Toronto District School Board, the program provides children in Grades 7 to 9 from inner-city schools with after-school activities, such as drama, sports and music, in an effort to prevent the students from becoming engaged in "negative" activities elsewhere.  Carole Boivin, Vice-President of marketing, communications and donor services for the foundation told the National Post, “These kids are at a crossroads…..we are hoping to circumvent that and help them make healthy choices.”

The program itself is available at no cost to students or their families, and hubbed out of eight various schools in Toronto.  It is unique in that it will offer extracurricular activities not found at most schools, including Yoga, cooking classes and the creation of a mosaic wall in each school during which time students will learn from architects, designers and artists. Hot meals will also be offered.

Draft was extremely honored to attend the event as well as excited about the possibility for the two foundations to join together for one goal…..healthy lifestyles!  To show his appreciation, he and the Buffalo Bills invited 30 special guests from Toronto's Beyond 3:30 program to the game when they took on the New York Jets.

Rahul Bhardwaj, President and CEO of the Toronto Community Foundation, said to the National Post that he takes pride in his organization's ability to identify community needs and co-ordinate the efforts of many.  "We've been working under the radar with a host of groups to support a number of organizations that you may have heard of, but may not connect us with them.”

But hopefully in the near future, you will connect The Chris Draft Family Foundation with the Toronto Community Foundation; and together the two will offer the best of both worlds by keeping students off the streets and in school with Beyond 3:30; and helping them get informed, active, and healthy with Draft Day International Get Checked and Get Fit!

For more information on the Beyond 3:30 Program or what’s offered from any of the partners, visit the Toronto Community Foundation at www.tcf.ca/vitalinitiatives/beyond330.html, the Toronto District School Board at www.tdsb.on.ca, or the Toronto Foundation for Student Success at www.studentsuccess.ca.