Hillsborough Designated A 'Healthy Town To Watch'

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — For the first time, Hillsborough Township has been selected as a "Healthy Town to Watch" designee by The Mayors Wellness Campaign(MWC).

"Hillsborough Township prides itself in being an active community, as depicted in attaining this recognition. We continue to explore opportunities to engage our community and employees and look forward each year to enhanced programming as part of the Mayors Wellness Campaign," said Hillsborough Mayor Shawn Lipani.

To attain this designation, Hillsborough provided a range of MWC programming in 2021 including:

• fitness programs for older adults;
• food security programs in partnership with Somerset County to address the continued increase in food insecurity due to the pandemic;
• a socially distant health fair;
• a toy swap to increase awareness about the need for sustainable practices.
• the township aided in vaccination registration and transportation for its most vulnerable populations.

The MWC announced eight 2021 "Healthy Town" winners that are addressing food insecurity, supporting COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, and organizing programs to promote physical and mental health throughout their communities.

Along with that seven towns were designated as 2021 Healthy Towns to Watch, and 17 were designated as 2021 Healthy Towns Up-and-Coming.

The MWV honored the following cities and towns in its 2021 awards:

Healthy Towns

• Bay Head
• Evesham
• Montclair
• Paterson
• Plainfield
• Scotch Plains
• Wildwood Crest
• Woodbridge

Healthy Towns to Watch

• Belleville
• Borough of Freehold
• Franklin Lakes
• Hillsborough
• Jefferson
• Norwood
• Vernon

Healthy Towns Up and Coming

• Bernardsville
• Oradell
• Cranbury
• Cresskill
• Deerfield
• Denville
• Eatontown
• Fort Lee
• Garfield
• Highlands
• Keyport
• Lawrence (Mercer)
• Morristown
• Princeton
• Ridgewood
• South Brunswick
• Stafford

The MWC is a program of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

Each year, communities participating in the MWC complete a comprehensive Healthy Town Application outlining the research they’ve done to identify their community health needs and explaining how they have organized their local MWC committee. The application also highlights the actions the towns have taken to make their communities healthier places to live, work, and play.

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