Cindy Feltman and Donald Angulo have truly made a difference for our entire family, but especially my daughter, Julia.  Julia is currently in 6^th grade and is 11 years old.  Two years ago, at the start of 4^th grade, Julia was diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disability Syndrome; which for her, primarily included visual spatial processing difficulties, delayed gross and fine motor skills and language processing difficulties.  She was overweight, sat on the couch and had little motivation for physical exercise with one exception; she wanted to be a cheerleader.  She attended a gymnastics class on a once a week basis; but with her above delays and her excess weight; she had difficulty just doing somersaults. Riding a bicycle was difficult for her. She desperately wanted to lose weight but didn’t have the skills or motivation to be successful.  Her goal of fitting into a bikini for the summer after 4^th grade year was not attainable for her. 

At the start of her 5^th grade year at school, September of 2006; my husband and I were up at the Village at DC ranch exercising.  Julia was walking on a treadmill; an activity that kids under age 14 weren’t supposed to be doing.  A trainer approached me with Julia and the first thought I had was we were going to be scolded for having our daughter on the treadmill against club rules.  Instead, we met Cindy Feltman.  Cindy had approached Julia and had asked her if she would be interested in participating in a pilot kids fitness program that would meet 5-6 times/week after school and would included fitness, nutritional and behavioral counseling.  It became obvious to my husband and me that Julia wanted to try it.  We explained the commitment to Julia; said yes to Cindy; but walked away thinking it wouldn’t last for Julia; that she would probably lose interest.   I stopped the gymnastics class and all other after school activities for Julia with the exception of her flute lesson.  Julia began the program and surprisingly to us; she had a new found sense of motivation and actually looked forward to going to the camp. As part of the program, our family had to also commit to following good nutrition and exercise.  Julia definitely became a motivating force to insure we were also complying.  Our family started to exercise more regularly and I began watching what we were eating and began packing lunch everyday for Julia versus buying lunch at school.  Cindy had engaged the services of a nutritionist and a behavioral counselor to meet with the kids on a regular basis.  The kids had to keep a food journal; Julia loved the trip to the grocery store to learn about healthier foods and how to read labels.  She became active in what we purchased at the store for food in our home.

At the completion of the first six week pilot program; Cindy informed us she was going to run another session.  Julia immediately wanted to sign up; “mommy, I haven’t reached my goal yet.”  Julia continued to attend four consecutive sessions with Cindy’s P.H.A.T. camp; each time she became more motivated as she saw results in herself. 

During the first half of her 5^th grade year; we conducted further neuropsychological and speech and language testing for Julia outside of the school district.  Julia was a “gray” area child who did not meet any of the school requirements for speech/language/occupational therapy support through the school district.  It was determined that Julia also suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder from a hypo-activity standpoint.  We ended up taking Julia out of school for winter quarter to privately hire the support that Julia needed.  Julia continued working with Cindy and at this time was in her third session of the P.H.A.T. Camp.  During the Occupational Therapist’s evaluation and working with Julia; she commented to us that the best thing we did for Julia was enroll her in a daily fitness program; by improving her gross motor skills, Julia had made enough strides that the therapist could then begin to concentrate on improving her fine motor skills.

Cindy’s program also positively impacted a 12 year old boy, named Richie, whom our family took in October of 2006.  He had been expelled from a boarding school for at risk kids, where he had attended since Kindergarten, for anger management and “shutting down” behavior.  At the start of the Julia’s second session we signed Richie up for the program; although it was with much resistance that he went the first day.  He was also overweight and out of shape for his stature.  After the first week, Richie became enthused about going and looked forward to attending all the activities, with the exception of the behavioral counseling!  Richie continued to attend the next two sessions for a total of three altogether. At the completion of his three sessions, he had lost significant weight, gained a significant amount of body strength and today is active in ice hockey, baseball and soccer.

It brings tears to my eyes to talk about the improvements I experienced with both Julia and Richie as a result of their attending Cindy’s camps and working with Cindy.  Cindy was truly a motivational force for both Julia and Richie.  Julia will tell you that Cindy changed her life.  There are some people you meet along the path of life that you know you will never forget and that you will always hold in high esteem.  Cindy Feltman is one such individual.  The motivation she instilled in Julia; the increase in her self confidence and self regard that I watched grow within Julia last year as a result of Cindy, the camp and Cindy’s ability to find Julia’s goal and help her realize she can achieve anything she sets her mind to, have been overwhelming joyous for me as a mother to watch and experience for your child.  Julia today, is on a competitive cheerleading team, is happy, continues to be very cognizant of her eating habits and exercise regimen. We owe so much of Julia’s fitness and motivational achievements to Cindy Feltman.  She truly is an inspiration to all whose lives she touches.

Sincerely,

Sue Trace

I wanted to include a short letter that Julia wrote for Cindy.

P.H.A.T. Camp was one of the best things that I did in my life!  Cindy’s camp helped me get in good shape.  I went from 110 pounds to 80 in less than a year.  She also helped me with standing up for myself and building up courage.  She helped me reach my goal and follow my dreams to be a cheerleader and now I cheer competitively at American Elite Cheer and I love it!  Cindy taught me how to eat healthy and exercise in ways that don’t even seem like exercising.  I love the way Cindy teaches it; she took us to a grocery store to really see the amount of fat and calories (etc.) in food, and she took us to awesome places like Fiddlesticks to play games like laser tag.  She even got cool people that do sports all the time like football and dance and tennis.  I love Cindy’s camp and how it affected me.  YOU ROCK CINDY!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!  YOU GO GIRL!  AND, AS WE SAY AT CHEER, “THE SKIES THE LIMIT!”

By, Julia Trace

After Picture of Kaitlyn Johnson             Before Picture Kaitlyn Johnson  (lost 10% bodyfat and 20 pounds in 6 months)

Cindy and Donald,

It's Ariana, I can't put into words how much these last eight weeks has meant to me.  You have not only helped me to lose weight and get healthy, but you have given me some self esteem that I don't think I could have found on my own.  I thank you for everything that you have done for me.  I am not ready for this to end.  Please allow me to go further.  I would really appreciate being sponsored again for the next camp.

Thank you so much,

Ariana

Our experience at the PHAT kids camp was amazing.  As a parent I watched my child grow from barely being able to run or do any kind of push ups to running a mile and doing all kinds of great things.  I watched her self esteem grow.  It is the best thing I could have done for my child.  From my child's perspective, she loved every minute of the camp.  She had a blast and feels so good about herself.  While taking the week break that we are having right now, she informed me that she misses it so much and it is only Monday.  We thank Cindy and Don so much for all their hard work and dedication.

Sherri Zucker (Ariana’s Mom)

 

Hello Cindy,
I hope all is well.  Thank you again for all the work you have done with Dylan.  The results are amazing and very fun to watch
Kenny

Cindy,

Would like to thank you again for a wonderful first eight week of camp. Annabelle enjoyed every day of camp and along with her sister Alex is looking forward to the next eight weeks.

Both you and Don are so great with all the kids in your program and you have gone the extra mile for them. We love the fact that you incorporate outside programs with your camp like the Karate and Rock climbing along with giving the kids the opportunity to work out in the gym, and providing them with a wide range of opportunity to try different things.

We look forward to the next eight weeks of camp.

Thanks again

Annabelle Shanks and Family