The 2017 Senior Class Gift will help build a tele-exercise room to improve fitness in children with special needs. A special tele-exercise room will be set up at the Pediatric Exercise and Genomics Research Center (PERC) to provide the infrastructure for supervised group-exercise training via an Internet-based videoconferencing for children with chronic diseases like cystic fibrosis, spina bifida and cancer.
Many of the children served come from underserved populations, with limited resources to travel to a gym or to have a gym membership. This program would be the only opportunity for exercise intervention, which has both short- and long-term benefits. Many children with chronic diseases do not get enough exercise simply because of barriers like the inability to commute to a local gym or the risk of being exposed to infections by interacting with other children. The ideal exercise program for these children is a home-based one with group interaction and the supervision of a professional trainer.
Help the Class of 2017 break down barriers to health and enhance UCI’s mission to make quality education accessible for all by making a gift today!
