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Be active! Richmond seniors participate in Active Aging Week

Posted at 2:37 PM, Sep 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-24 15:28:23-04

RICHMOND, Va. — Active Aging Week continued Monday in Richmond with a ‘Flashback Field Day’ event held at Southside Community Center on Old Warwick Road.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney attended the free event run by Sports Backers, in partnership with Senior Connections and several other community organizations.

“No matter what age you are in the city of Richmond, we want you to be out there and active,” Mayor Stoney said. “You know we have great natural resources in terms of the river and our trails, but also just community partners like Sports Backers out here, YMCA, who want our seniors to be more involved and more engaged, so they can live a long healthy life.”

The field day festivities included music, dancing, a beanbag toss, and a 25-meter dash.

Fifteen stations were set up by community groups to provide information to seniors on topics such as healthy eating and fitness classes.

“It’s a mixture of fun and making sure that they have the resources that they need to access healthy active resources in the future,” Jacki Quinlan, Director of Community Outreach at Sports Backers, said.

This is the first year that Sports Backers has been involved with Active Aging Week and Quinlan said she was excited to hopefully continue the partnership.

“We’re pumped to be here the first year and hopefully for many more years,” she said.

Active Aging Week kicked off on Saturday with the annual Centenarian Celebration, and continues this week with more events, activities and workshops.

“The main goal of Active Aging Week is to celebrate and engage seniors in communities throughout the Richmond region,” a spokesperson for the event said.

For access to more resources for living a healthy lifestyle, seniors can click here.