Kids' fitness nonprofit campaigns for national grant | Community Spirit

Tri 4 Schools needs online votes to move from top 10 to 3    

A nonprofit founded and run by a Verona woman is a semi-finalist in a national campaign to encourage healthy living and helping youth. Tri 4 Schools is relying on online votes to propel it into the finals in Washington, D.C., and the shot at $10,000 to expand its healthy programs to more Wisconsin schools.

Katie Hensel, president of Tri 4 Schools, worked for four years at Epic Systems before leaving in 2010 to found the organization, which hosts events at Dane County schools to get kids active in sports.

“I think we have a strong thing going, and we've built a lot of success, but this is a big crisis and we need to move quickly,” Hensel said. “The more funding we have, the faster we can move to other communities and reach more kids.”

The nonprofit is one of 10 groups picked for a national Partnership for a Healthier America contest. Tri 4 Schools needs votes to boost it to the next step of the competition by Feb. 1.

Votes are logged through Facebook. Click here to watch the group’s video and vote.

The organization said it donates all of the entry fees from its youth events to the schools where the participants attend and the donations are used to fund programs in health and fitness.