Sep 28, 2009 5:37 pm US/Eastern
Events Focus On Bringing Families Back To Dinner
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
One South Florida fast food chain is offering families a buy one meal, get one free deal to promote the importance of families sitting together for dinner.
That adds to the numerous events being held in South Florida on Monday as community events are held to mirror national events around Family Day – a day to eat dinner with your children.
To help get you started, CBS4'S Neighbors 4 Neighbors has teamed up with Chick-fil-A with the buy one, get one free meal coupon good on Monday.
Click here for the coupon and bring it in to any participating Miami-Dade or Broward County Chick-fil-A restaurant.
Studies show children who eat dinner with their families make healthier choices. The most recent study was conducted by Columbia University. Claudia Bailly is with the South Florida Coalition Alliance, one of many groups across the country supporting the national Family Day 2009 in order to get more families to eat together.
"The study found that families who committed to enjoying mealtimes together at least 3 to 4 times per week had a very high incidence of children who made very healthy choices when it related to substance abuse," said Bailly.
Numerous students who were off from school on Monday also learned an important lesson of giving to others by volunteering at the Miami Rescue Mission.
Organizers said they believe at least 100 students attended Monday's event and they're hoping that all of them left with a drive to continue this type of community service for the rest of their lives.
"I think it's really good to bring the children out to volunteer," said Beth Story, a volunteer. "I think it's good to teach them to give back to the community and that you should always be doing service not just around the holidays."
That message was not lost on Samantha Thompson, a teenager who spent Monday volunteering with children.
"It's very important to me as a Christian to also help out other people in need," she said. "I want to be able to use my time to help."
Eating dinner with your family seems like a simple thing to do, but it's not so easy with busy work schedules, after school activities and just the overall hectic nature of our lives. There are studies that show making the effort to eat together could have a major impact on your child's future. That's why there's a national initiative called Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children, designed to remind parents that what your kids really want at the dinner table is you.
Monica and Juan Carlos Trujillo of Doral have made a promise to start eating more dinners with their three girls. But they know it won't be easy.
"Because of conflicting work schedules, business travel and extracurricular activities with the kids it's been quite a challenge," said Monica.
Any parent can tell you one of the toughest things to do is to get their kids to open up and talk about their day.
There are all kinds of affordable products that can help you get the conversation started including the "Today I" game created by local mom Joanna Lopez.
"Every card has a different emotion, maybe it's 'Today I laughed'. The whole idea behind it is to get family's to reconnect at the end of the day," Lopez said.
"Today I wanted to do art," said Savannah Trujillo who got the conversation started at the dinner table.
Now that they can see the benefits, the Trujillo family is making a point to make a date for dinner several times a week.
"I think everything you put on a schedule if you commit you can do it," said Juan Carlos.
"We're definitely all for it for anything that will help us bond and anything that will keep that communication going," said Monica.
To learn about how to open the lines of the communication with your kids visit the
South Florida Coalition Alliance web site.
To purchase the "Today I" game visit www.TodayIstore.com.
Click Here for a list of South Florida Events designed to remind families that conversations fostered at the dinner table help keep children drug-free.
CBS4's Lisa Cilli contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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