Players visit school to support 'Cubs on the Move'

CHICAGO -- Cody Ransom and Julio Borbon were leading schoolchildren in exercises Wednesday at Otis Elementary School when Ransom stopped to stare at his Cubs teammate.

Borbon was excitedly doing "the crazy dance." With both arms stretched over his head, Borbon waved his hands back and forth and looked skyward in his rendition of the fun exercise.

"He fit in perfectly," Ransom said of Borbon, smiling.

The exercise was part of the "Cubs on the Move" Fitness Trolley program designed to promote an active lifestyle and healthy eating in communities across Chicago.

"It's awesome," Borbon said of the program, which involves a Cubs-themed trolley car. "It's a great experience just to give back to the community and to get to share these little moments. You get to appreciate a different perspective of the game. It's a lot of fun."

Borbon said his enthusiasm for the dance was his way to show the kids how fun it is to be active.

"It's fun, you know, just to go out there stretching, doing the crazy dance with the kids," he said. "Just enjoying yourself is the most important thing about coming out here, giving these kids a good time and letting them see that we can come and just like we play out there, we get to spend time and let them have a good time as well."

Cubs Charities chair Laura Ricketts was also in attendance and said that giving back to the community, especially in the form of teaching kids the value of a healthy lifestyle, is a priority for the Cubs.

"Youth health, sports fitness and education is the primary mission of Chicago Cubs Charities," Ricketts said. " … What we're doing here today with the Fitness Trolley is something that goes deep to our core, and we're so pleased and proud that this inaugural summer for the program has gone so well."

Ransom and Borbon led the participating children in exercises such as push-ups and jumping-jacks, and even got a little baseball action in when Borbon tossed pitches for the youngsters to hit on the school's diamond.

"It's really good to get the kids out, especially during the summer," Ransom said. "Get them out playing, I think that's huge."

Ransom said he hopes kids are inspired by the Fitness Trolley program.

"Get out and do something every day," he said. "Get out of the house, get away from the video games, get outside, do something active and have fun doing it."

And if they can't think of anything else to do, kids can always do "the crazy dance."