ATLANTA (June 7, 2017) – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has received a $50,000 grant from the PNC Foundation to fund the printing and distribution of more than 50,000 children’s books to pediatricians across Atlanta. Children’s began supplying the books to parents and healthcare centers throughout metro Atlanta in May 2017.
The bilingual “Baby Love” board book is an extension of the Children’s Strong4Life early feeding program. Designed to help providers share evidence-based early feeding and parenting practices for the development of healthy eating habits from birth to age 3, the program is part of the larger Strong4Life movement.
“PNC’s support of Strong4Life and Children’s reflects our shared focus on providing access to quality educational resources to help improve the lives of Georgia’s children,” said Eddie Meyers, Regional President for PNC–Georgia and a Children’s Board of Trustees Member. “This funding has the potential to positively impact all the influencers in a child’s life, from doctors and parents to siblings and educators, which makes Children’s an invaluable partner.”
The “Baby Love” board books were created to support the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations on early feeding practices and the importance of establishing healthy eating habits early in life. Strong4Life-trained providers give the books to parents free of charge during well-child visits at the 4-month-old checkup.
“We greatly appreciate PNC’s generous grant to help educate new moms on the importance of establishing healthy eating habits from birth,” said Stephanie Walsh, MD, Medical Director of Child Wellness at Children’s. “In fact, a recent AAP study revealed toddlers are not eating enough veggies and the ‘Baby Love’ books seek to encourage healthy eating habits. They are an important part of our efforts to offer busy parents information about food parenting with age-specific tips, facts and advice from the experts (and parents) at Children’s."
The donation is part of a continuing relationship between Children’s and the PNC Foundation. Since 2012, PNC has provided funding to the Children’s early childhood wellness initiative to help distribute 90,000 books to healthcare centers.