Salud Heroes of the Week: Latina Sisters Use Craigslist to Start Fitness Program for Kids

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Editor’s Note: Salud Heroes are a weekly feature from the Salud America! Growing Healthy Change website, which aims to empower healthy changes in Latino communities through news, resources, and stories.

San Antonio sisters Makayla Esparza, 9, and Alyssa Esparza, 8, led largely inactive lifestyles.

They saw a weight-loss contest on TV and decided to get active and help others get active, but they didn’t know of any afterschool programs to join and they didn’t have anyone to be active with.

This led to their big idea: invite all the kids from their neighborhood for a 90-day get fit challenge to improve.

With the help of their grandmother, Dawn Guerrero, Alyssa and Makayla posted an ad on Craigslist to invite kids to be active with them. They also invited members from the fitness community to show them ways to be fit.

Soon kids from all over the neighborhood started showing up, and the group “Fitness FUNatics” was born.

Although their 90-day challenge is now over, the Fitness FUNatics still meet and continue to offer each other friendship and encouragement in their lifelong journey toward living an active lifestyle, and the sisters hope their program gets replicated all over town.

Read the full story or watch the video.

See more Salud Heroes here.