SIOUX CITY, IA -
Nearly 1,200 children and over 200 volunteers were at Cook Park today for a bit of fun and games.
The United Way kicked off their first ever Active Kids Day, which focuses on helping kids to live active lifestyles.
Tim Stiles, the president of the United Way of Siouxland, says the event is a great way to show parents how to keep their kids busy.
"And we thought what better way to demonstrate how easy it is, than to have a day where all the kids from all the agencies that we support, coming out here, and enjoying an active kids day, participating in a good old fashioned sack race, three legged race, tug of war, you name it, they're doing it," he said.
The event is in conjunction with the 125th anniversary of the United Way movement and the United Way Day of Action happening nationwide that encourages communities to join together and make a difference on the longest day of the year.
Kenzie Backus, a student from Beyond the Bell, says her favorite event today was the sponge race.
"It was where you had to pour, get the sponge out of the water, then you have to try and bring it in as much as you can then you have to dump it out in the bucket and we won. It felt really great," she said.
Children from eight United Way community partner agencies offering summer programming participated.
