Today's Choices, LLC is a non-profit started with the goal of meeting the physical and mental health needs of school aged children in our community. These services will be provided at low or no cost to the school system or the families. The proceeds from this raffle will go towards: the cost associated with becoming tax exempt through the IRS, direct mental health services for children and adolescents, and developing the physical health program. 

Why is this Non-Profit needed?

Prevalence of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=federal_and_state_policy_legislation&template=/ContentManag...

• Four million children and adolescents in this country suffer from a serious mental disorder that causes significant functional impairments at home, at school and with peers. 
• Half of all lifetime cases of mental disorders begin by age.
• In any given year, only 20 percent of children with mental disorders are identified and receive mental health services.

Consequences of Untreated Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death in youth ages 15 to 24. 
  
• States spend nearly $1 billion annually on medical costs associated with suicide.
• Approximately 50% of students age 14 and older who are living with a mental illness drop out of high school. 
• An alarming 65 percent of boys and 75 percent of girls in juvenile detention have at least one mental illness.

Prevalence of Childhood Obesity (http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm)

• Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years.
• The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.
• In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.
• Overweight and obesity are the result of “caloric imbalance”—too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed—and are affected by various genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.

Immediate health effects

• Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
• Obese adolescents are more likely to have pre diabetes.
• Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.

Long-term health effects

• Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults.
• Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk for many types of cancer.