Carolina Hurricanes WORK IT OUT for At-Risk Children

02/05/2007

While no NHL hockey was being played in Raleigh this week due to the All-Star break, the Hurricanes organization still managed to find a great way to use their time.

Danialle Karmanos, the wife of Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, launched the Triangle chapter of her Work It Out Program Thursday afternoon at the Hurricanes Academy at Walnut Terrace. The program, which is designed to make underprivileged children more aware of health and nutrition, has already undergone a successful year in Karmanos' native Detroit.

"I had been reading in the newspaper that we're in the midst of an epidemic with childhood obesity and its long-term effects," said Karmanos of starting the program. "What we're trying to do is equip children with the tools to make healthy choices and to live a healthy, productive life emotionally, physically and mentally."

The Triangle-based version of the program, which is a partnership with the Carolina Hurricanes and Schools in Communities of Wake County, includes a curriculum and a set of exercise programs that will be conducted weekly.

As part of Thursday's launch, Karmanos and her Work It Out staff members were on hand to guide local children through various exercise programs as they got home from school. Also assisting was Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley, who, in his 19th season in the NHL, knows a thing or two about fitness.

"Being where these kids are at in the Hurricanes Academy, I think it's terrific for the community," said Wesley. 'Talking about fitness and nutrition with these kids who have been put in a situation where they might not know any better - I think that's the most important thing."

The program will take place at the Walnut Terrace Hurricanes Academy, which is one of five such learning centers located in at-risk Triangle neighborhoods. Since 1999, the Hurricanes have donated close to $500,000 to these centers.

According to Hurricanes Director of Community Relations Chris Diamond, the Hurricanes' partnership with Work It Out made sense not only because of the connection with the Karmanos family, but also because of the high level of fitness that the Hurricanes' players exemplify.

"When you think of fitness, you look at athletes automatically," he said. "You think of Rod Brind'Amour, the fitness fanatic that he is, and longevity he's gotten from being fit has helped him. To be at his age and to be in the position that he's in says volumes for taking care of your body, taking care of yourself, and taking care of your mind."

Although fitness is the focus of the program, the ultimate goal of the Hurricanes Academy according to Diamond is to put children in a positive, constructive environment where they can follow their dreams.

"We can give these children an outlook that they do have a future, even if it's not as a hockey player, and maybe that will lead to something else that they can take with them," he said.

For more information and photos, please visit the Carolina Hurricane's website at:  http://www.carolinahurricanes.com/custom/rad61433.asp