Healthy LifeStars

Our Healthy LifeStars community is growing! 🌟

This school year, we’re excited to welcome new schools to the Healthy LifeStars family while continuing our work with returning partners across the South.

What began with a regional focus in New Orleans has grown into multiple communities throughout Louisiana — and last spring, we reached another exciting milestone by welcoming our first school in Arkansas.

Every new school means more children getting the opportunity to learn that healthy choices can be simple, positive, and FUN.

And we’re just getting started. ❤️

Healthy habits are even better when they're FUN. 🙌

Students at Marvell-Elaine School District in Arkansas recently jumped into their first Healthy LifeStars® lesson with plenty of movement, energy, and enthusiasm!

Students practiced running in place, calming breathing exercises, and “shaking it out” while learning how physical activity helps keep their bodies strong. They also explored healthy food choices and talked about how the foods they eat give their bodies energy.

One of our favorite moments? Watching students encourage one another, participate confidently, and proudly share the healthy choices they want to make at home.

This is what Healthy LifeStars is all about - helping kids discover that building a healthy life can be active, fun, and full of joy.

Meet Janitza Vasquez, Healthy LifeStars® National Program Director! 🌟

A proud New Orleans native, Janitza has spent more than 13 years working in education, youth development, mentoring, and program management — all with a focus on creating opportunities for people to learn, grow, and thrive.

For Janitza, the Healthy LifeStars mission is personal, too. As a mom of two boys, she knows how important it is to build healthy habits around movement, nutrition, and overall well-being early in life.

Her work has helped Healthy LifeStars grow from our initial focus in New Orleans into communities across Louisiana — and most recently, into Arkansas!

We’re so grateful to have Janitza helping us bring healthy habits, confidence, and joy to even more kids across the South. ❤️

As Childhood Obesity Awareness Month comes to a close, let’s remember that building healthy habits doesn’t end in September. 💙

Healthy habits are built through small, positive choices made consistently over time. Through our I CAN DO IT! pillar, kids learn to set realistic goals, celebrate their progress, and build confidence along the way.

Every step counts—and every healthy choice helps build a healthier future.

Learn how The LifeStar Challenge™ helps kids build healthy habits for life at healthylifestars.org.

That’s a wrap on the 2026 Healthy LifeStars StepUp for Kids Stepathon!

To every student, family, school, campus team, corporate partner, sponsor, donor, and supporter who participated: thank you for stepping up for kids.

Every walk, workout, donation, share, and word of encouragement helped support our mission to inspire kids to build healthy habits that can last a lifetime.
And a huge congratulations to all of this year’s Stepathon standouts and team winners! 🏆

We’re incredibly grateful to have a community that continues to show up for the health and well-being of kids. Until next year! ⭐

A share from a teacher to one of our partner school: her students keep telling her, lesson after lesson, that they're eating healthier and paying more attention to how active they are. One day they were mid-relay-race when it was time to wrap up - and they begged for two more rounds. They just didn't want to stop. 🏃‍♀️

A massive thank you to all of our incredible participants, families, school teams, corporate partners, and sponsors who stepped up with us this month. Because of your dedication, energy, and enthusiasm, every step taken helped move us closer to a future where every kid has the opportunity to live a active, healthy life.

To our amazing corporate partners and sponsors: your generosity and support make our free programs possible, helping us empower kids in classrooms across the country with lifelong healthy habits. We could not do this vital work without you!

To every single person who laced up their sneakers, logged active minutes, and encouraged others along the way: thank you for making this year's Stepathon such an inspiring success. Together, we are launching generations of healthy, confident, joyful kids!

🏆 And we’re not quite done yet! We’re tallying the final results, and our regional winning school sites will be announced tomorrow, September 23. Stay tuned to see who takes the top spots!

Finding fun ways to move every day keeps healthy habits exciting for kids!

Our core pillar I AM ACTIVE! encourages kids to explore different activities and discover how simple daily choices add up. On Day 5 of our StepAThon, see how two kids engaging in movement for the exact same 30 minutes can watch their step count stack up in completely different ways!

Showing kids how different activities convert into movement helps them take personal responsibility for their health and stay motivated.

Join our StepAThon or donate to support active kids: https://charity.pledgeit.org/hls-stepathonLearn more about how The LifeStar Challenge™ helps kids build active, healthy habits at healthylifestars.org!

⭐ WE’RE HALFWAY THERE! ⭐

We’ve reached the halfway point of the Healthy LifeStars Stepathon, and together we’ve already logged an incredible:

👟 11,466,790 STEPS
💙 $21,605 RAISED

That means we’re already 72% of the way to our $30,000 fundraising goal!
September is also Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, a reminder of why encouraging kids to move more, make healthier choices, and build healthy habits for life matters.

There’s still plenty of time to keep moving and help us close the gap. Every step helps build momentum, and every donation helps Healthy LifeStars empower kids to build healthy habits for life.

🚶 Keep stepping.
💪 Keep sharing.
💙 Keep fundraising.

We’re just $8,395 away from our goal - let’s get there together!