This fall, Fuel Up to Play 60 and the NFL are once again coming together to support local schools and communities through the Hometown Grants program. The NFL, through Fuel Up to Play 60, will provide $10,000 per NFL club market ($320,000 total) in grant money to help school districts and/or individual schools facilitate sustainable physical activity and healthy eating improvements. These grants are a great opportunity for NFL Clubs and local Dairy Councils to collaborate and build stronger relationships while helping kids and communities "fuel greatness."

J.C. Ellis Elementary has been chosen to host this year's Fuel Up to Play 60 event and celebrate the announcement of the Hometown Grant for the Jefferson Parish Public School System.

New Orleans Saints running back CJ Spiller visited J.C. Ellis Elementary on Tuesday, Oct. 27.  Spiller spoke with students about the importance of eating right, interacted with students in football drills, signed autographs and even answered student's tough questions. Spiller was also on hand with a SUDIA representative to provide J.C. Ellis Elementary their $10,000 check for health and physical improvements.

"We have been given such a huge platform to play the game that we love, but at the end of day, it is all about the lives that you impact," Spiller said. "Today I had a tremendous time getting to know the kids and just going through some exercises with them. They had fun. It is also (about) just teaching them about life. I thought it was a fun day."

About Fuel Up to Play 60:

The NFL Play 60 campaign is designed to tackle childhood obesity by getting kids active through in school, after-school and team-based programs. SUDIA and the Saints work together to help make wellness part of the game plan in Louisiana schools through the Play 60 campaign/Fuel Up to Play 60. The program encourages schools to make healthy changes in students' eating habits and physical activity.

Many schools lack the resources to execute school wellness and this is why the Southeast Dairy Association, on behalf of dairy farmer families, is proud to support schools in the fight for healthier kids with the opportunities for Fuel Up to Play 60 schools to write for grants to kick-off or enhance their wellness plan in their schools.

The funds from the Hometown Grants can be utilized by the receiving schools in many ways to optimize healthy eating and physical activity based on local needs and interests. This could range from vending machine wraps to support smart snacking, improving school breakfasts and summer feeding programs to physical activity equipment. Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National Dairy Council, the Southeast Dairy Association and the NFL. It's all about getting students to 'Fuel Up' with nutrient-rich foods missing from their diets, like low-fat and fat-free milk and milk products, fruits, vegetables and whole grains and to 'get-up and play' for 60 minutes a day.