Get Up Go

Welcome to our News and Announcements page! We're excited about what's happening with the Get Up & Go Campaign and we want to tell you all about it. Check here daily for the latest news, announcements and events. (Click for more about our Campaign) You can also check out our News Archives for past stories and events!!!
Students We Need YOU.... to Get Up & Go! Get Up & Go! Night With the Gateway Grizzlies Huge Success!!! Get Up & Go... Tailgate with the Grizzlies Pictures from our Evening
We Need You! We need you to Get Healthy. We need you to Get Active. We need you to Get Involved. Whether it's walking or biking with friends, playing softball or volleyball, or just organizing a cheering section for the next rally or game, we need you to get active and get involved. Get Up & Go! is a grass roots, community organization with the mission of getting people of all ages to live active, healthy and connected lifestyles. We promote good nutrition, active lifestyles and encourage people to get involved with friends, neighbors and their community. So far, thousands of people from all over St. Clair County have participated in the Get Up & Go challenge. You can read about some of their stories on this website. But we're not done. We need you! The future of our communities, and our country, depends on you. We need you to help us move away from the 'couch potato' culture and towards an active and healthy lifestyle. And just how are you going to do that? Get Active... Make 'active' choices in your daily lifestyle. That may mean walking or riding to school, joining an intramural team or being part of cheering/noise making section for the next game. Being active improves not only your physical health, but your mental health as well. It's hard to be depressed or stressed out when your yelling at a game or chasing a pop up in the outfield. Get Healthy... Make smart choices in what you eat and how you take care of yourself. You are the most important health expert in your own life. That doesn't mean that you have to live on granola and celery, but balance that ice cream or large order of fries with a half hour walk or a little extra time in the gym. Set goals for your own health and find friends who will help you achieve them. Get Involved... Here's the big one. A healthy lifestyle involves living in a healthy community. You are a big part of that community, and we need your help to make it better for everyone. At Get Up & Go! we have a saying "Counting what you do, because what you do counts!" We need your help to spread the word and get others involved. It can be as simple as getting your family or friends to agree to walk 5 miles a week, or as challenging as organizing school wide event. We're here to help you, but we can't do it without you. Remember, what you do counts! Use the contact form on this site or email us at info@GetUpGo.info and let us know what you want to do or how we can help. There's lots of ideas on this website, but we're sure that you have lots more. Here's just some suggestions: Help us create a Facebook site to get the message out to even more people. Help organize a school wide event that promotes overall health and wellness. (The Race for Character is one that we worked with this year that's a good example.) Organize a school group or club that promotes healthy, active lifestyles. This could be based on your favorite cause from exercise to nutrition, from cycling to recycling. It's all good! Get together an intramural team at school (we'll even provide the T-shirts). Help us get the word out by writing articles or taking pictures for our website. Challenge another school, or all of them, to a compete with you. (For example, the Walk Across Illinois challenge.) Most important of all, help us to help others get involved. You provide the ideas and energy, we'll provide the support. So let us know your ideas. We Need You! Contact us at info@GetUpGo.info or use our contact form. Remember, we're "Counting what you do, because what you do counts!"
Get Up & Go night with the Gateway Grizzlies was a huge success as thousands of fans turned up to cheer their Gateway Grizzlies on to victory. Though the rain tried to dampen the fun, still hundreds came early to tailgate with Get Up & Go and take advantage of the fabulous mini-health fair put on by the Health Departments of East Side and St. Clair County. As part of the Grizzlies ‘Step Up to the Plate’ promotion for men’s health awareness, Get Up & Go was asked to ‘do what they do best’, and bring people together from all over the area for a fun evening of health, fitness and enjoyment. Over a dozen area organizations pitched their tents, brought their vans and provided an incredible glimpse of the variety of health, fitness and wellness services available in St. Clair County. For those who braved the rain and came early to take part in the tailgating, they were treated to free health and wellness screenings, consultations with sports medicine experts, got to tour some the most advanced mobile wellness vans today and even got to share in a tailgate barbeque. Many men took advantage of the free PSA tests that were made available as part of the men’s health program, as well as blood oxygen, blood sugar, pressure and wellness screenings. (PSA testing involves a small blood sample that can often determine early signs of colorectal cancer.) In addition to the screenings, men got the opportunity to stand around and talk to some of the leading health care providers and experts in the area about the health issues that matter to them most. This is exactly why the Governor of Illinois and the IDPH started the ‘Step Up to the Plate’ campaign to bring men of all walks of life into contact with the people who can offer early screenings and make men more aware of the health issues that impact their lives. In sponsoring this evening event, the Gateway Grizzlies have done an incredible job of bringing that message home. Not to be outdone, the women got to tour Memorial’s new mammography van, and had their own series of screenings like bone density, blood sugar, oxygen and pressure, BMI evaluations and everyone enjoyed the free chair massages. Experts in wellness and fitness were on hand to relax and talk about how we can all work at improving our overall health and quality of life. . And then there were the children. In keeping with the Get Up & Go mission of making sure that all members of our community are included, over a half dozen member organizations bought tickets on behalf of children that otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to go to a Gateway Grizzlies game. For some this was their first time at a real baseball stadium. Children from the Children’s Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis got a chance to load up on hot dogs and nachos along with the youth group from Westview Baptist. O’Fallon Township High School students did the grilling and everyone got great seats to the game. The hospitality tent became a hub of conversation, particularly during the rain, and what started as a simple barbeque turned into a party as people brought food, beverages, fruit and vegetables from their gardens and the highly prized ‘home baked cookies’! Doctors and steelworkers, nurses and moms, athletes and octogenarians all gathered to enjoy the evening, talk a little health and share in the experience. When the rains let up and it was time to pull the tarp off of the field, everyone began to wander into the stadium. More than one commented on how beautiful an August evening it was. The rain had not dampened the spirits, but raised them. For some men it was the first time they had talked to a doctor in, well. too long. For others it was the chance to share their concerns or just check on their health with the ones they love most. And for some, it was just an opportunity to share a little food and friendship and America’s great pastime. Of course the Grizzlies won. The fans had a great time. And I’m sure that at least one person went home saying “You know, St. Clair’s not a bad place to live… not bad at all.”
Get Up & Go Tailgate with the Grizzlies! What would a summer baseball game be without a tailgate party to kick it off? We agree. But in true Get Up & Go style, we couldn't have a party without a little health and fitness to go with it. Everyone was invited and amidst the nachos and chili cheese dogs there were PSA screenings, bone density checks and plenty of back massages. (Oh yes, that's the spot!) The Get Up & Go Night with the Grizzlies began with a tailgate party like no other. Over a dozen organizations provided the Health and Fitness focus, while members of Get Up & Go fired up the grill, iced down the beverages and loaded up the tables with a mixture of both healthy and decadent from heart and hand. The expected ballpark fare of jalapeno smothered nachos, dogs and brats load high with kraut, were supplemented with a flood of fruits and vegetables (many fresh from the garden), cold drinks and the coveted home baked cookies from an anonymous (Rita) baker. Good Cookies! It is said that America loves sports because sports bring us together. They aspire to a common goal of equality and fairness. They make us see ourselves as equals on the same field of play. You couldn't find a single person to argue against that at the party. There in that simple parking lot, with the Gateway Arch as a backdrop, the whole of St. Clair County seemed to come together. They shared their food, they shared their wisdom, they shared the evening.
Check out more pictures from our Get Up & Go Night with the Grizzlies!





News Archives 2008 Race for Character and Get Up & Go a Huge Success! 2008 Race for Character Slideshow Get Up & Go Fair and Celebration Slideshow Jen's Photos from Get Up & Go! 3 Miles of Smiles - 2008 Race for Character Deb's Photos from May 10th Race Results for Race For Character World Torch Relay to Arrive Saturday at Get Up & Go Celebration! Let The Sun Shine and Let's Celebrate! All Systems GO! Local Rock Legend to Emcee Get Up & Go Event Time to Get Up & Go Celebrate! May 10th Law Day 2008 Run Biggest Ever! Law Day Run 2008 Race Results Freeburg Shows It's a Get Up & Go Community! Village of Smithton Family Fun Day Craig Virgin Says "It's Time to Get Up & Go!" Belleville Animal Clinic to Offer Free Pet Health Screenings at May 10th Get Up & Go Celebration! The Race For Character Is Back For Another Year SWIC 2008 Summer Camps Announced Healthy Cooking is on the Menu for These Young Chefs! Young Chefs Learn the Joy of Cooking (Slideshow) Schools Sign Up to Give Get Up & Go a Great Start.	Communities Proclaim its time to GET UP & GO!!! Annual Scrivner Dinner Provides Big Push to Get Up & Go (Slideshow) See the Pictures from Healthy Kids Day sponsored by the Downtown Belleville YMCA Honorary Chairman and Hall of Famer Craig Virgin to Speak at Annual Health Foundation Dinner See the 4th Annual Scrivner Dinner Slideshow Even Man's Best Friend Wants You to... Get Up & GO!!! The American Cancer Society has joined the Get Up & Go Campaign. Communities Proclaim its time to GET UP & GO!!! Village of East Carondelet Helps Lead the Way Kick-Off a Chilly Success Get Up & Go... to the SWIC Belleville Campus Volunteers Build New Playground Extension at Whiteside. See the Whiteside Construction Slideshow Name the Mascot Contest Begins!!! Local Scout Troops Make Get Up & Go a Big Success!!!! See the Scouts Slideshow Medical Alliance Gives $1,000 to Get Up & Go! Illinois Distributing Donates Signs,Banner for Campaign County Board Chairman Proclaims April 2008 Get Up & Go Month! Get Up & Go Kickoff Event set for Saturday March 29th, 2:00pm at SWIC Belleville Campus Check Out our Picture Gallery from the Kick-Off For Our Full News Archive Click Here