Sodexo, a leading food services and facilities management company, joined forces with the United States Marine Corps last weekend in support of its annual Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Kids Run.  This event, a one-mile just-for-fun run for kids age 5-12, is a lead-up activity to the largest marathon in the world that doesn't offer prize money.

The marathon brings together runners from all walks of life to participate in a patriotic race and a weekend of family-friendly activities. More than 3,600 kids participated in the MCM Kids Run this year, including students from Washington, D.C. metropolitan area schools that joined the run as part of the Healthy School Award challenge. The top five schools with the most registered student participants received the Healthy School Award, and equally share a $5,000 contribution to the schools' physical education departments from Sodexo, the challenge's sponsor.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the national recommendation is that children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years should have one hour or more of physical activity each day, but the President's Council on Fitness tells us that only one in three children are physically active every day.

"Sodexo sees an opportunity to fight childhood obesity by helping children to make healthier lifestyle choices, which is why we proudly support the MCM Kids Run and the Healthy School Award," explained Brett Ladd, CEO, Sodexo Government, North America. 

As each child crossed the finish line, Sodexo provided a nutritious snack for the children to enjoy and then invited them to visit its activity tent. This popular post-race hangout featured a variety of activities focused on keeping kids' minds and bodies active, including:

• Dance party with Xbox 360 interactive dance games
• Refueling station, featuring bottled water & bananas
• Health themed coloring sheets
• Temporary tattoos & balloons
• Kids fun table with healthy eating themed giveaways

With more than 40 years of experience working municipal, state, federal and military clients, Sodexo's Government segment and its nearly 3,000 employees improve the Quality of Life for the people it serves at 150 military and U.S. Federal Government locations in 26 states. Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Sodexo provides a variety of integrated food and facilities management solutions and is the nation's largest federal foodservice contractor – serving 45.6 million meals annually with a focus on wellness and nutrition.

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About Sodexo North America

Sodexo North America is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 72 countries. Sodexo is a leading provider of integrated food, facilities management and other services that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life for millions of customers in corporate, education, healthcare, senior living, sports and leisure, government and other environments daily. The company employs 160,000 people at 13,000 sites in all 50 U.S. states and Canada, and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional jobs through its annual purchases of $19 billion in goods and services from small to large businesses. Sodexo is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion and safety, while upholding the highest standards of corporate responsibility and ethical business conduct. In support of local communities across the U.S., in 2018, Sodexo contributed over 159,500 in volunteer hours, and since 1996, the Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed nearly $34.5 million to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. To learn more about Sodexo, visit us.sodexo.com, and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.