Our Mission

The DMSE Children's Fitness Foundation, founded in 2003 by BAA Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray, supports non profit programs that use running as a primary means of promoting physical fitness in children.

TREK USA

2008 marks the third year of the TREK USA Relay Run. In 2004, Dave McGillivray – TREK’s founder – led a group of 11 across the country for the first TREK Cross Country Relay from San Francisco to Boston. In April of 2007, 10 runners were selected for TREK II East Coast Relay, which consisted of 1,500 miles from Hopkinton, Boston to West Palm Beach, Florida.

The purpose of TREK is to raise money to support the work of The DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation, specifically by funding non-profit organizations that use running as a vehicle to promote physical fitness in children.

To learn more about TREK, and how you could be part of a future TREK Team, click here.

America’s child obesity epidemic…an impending public health crisis

"Despite widespread alarm about childhood obesity, we currently lack anything resembling a national strategy to avert this impending public health crisis. The DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation aims to fill this leadership gap, through its support of research into novel prevention and treatment approaches, the Optimal Weight for Life clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston, and public health efforts designed to improve the lives of children throughout the New England area and beyond."

David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD
Director, Obesity Program
Associate Professor, Pediatrics

• Childhood obesity more than tripled from 1975 to 2004, from just more than 5% to a projected 16.7%. (Duke University and the Foundation for Child Development)
  
• The children of overweight mothers are 15 times more likely to be obese by age 6 than children of lean mothers. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
  
• 15 percent of U.S. children, and more than 60 percent of adults are overweight or obese. (U.S. Center for Disease Control)

How you can help

Your tax-deductible contribution to the DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation will provide valuable services and support to families seeking help in raising healthy, active children.

Please send a check or money order made out to the DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation to:

The DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation
PO Box 752
North Andover, MA 01845

For more information, please contact Billy Sheehan (978) 689-0957.

The DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization.