City officials, community leaders and residents will gather Monday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Vicksburg Auditorium on Monroe Street for a special program celebrating the city receiving the Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health prize.

The celebration coincides with the United Way of West Central Mississippi’s appreciation luncheon, and the program includes a seven-minute video on Vicksburg prepared by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“We’re looking forward to presenting the fabulous city of Vicksburg with the Culture of Health prize,” said Michele Connelly, United Way of West Central Mississippi director. “Everyone in our community is very deserving of this honor and this recognition, because it has taken all of us to create a culture of health that was prize worthy on the national level.

“We are going to have a fun and energized and informational event that is going to draw attention to all the great works that are being done by not only the United Way partner agencies, but the community as a whole.”

Vicksburg was one of eight cities selected from a field of 200 communities to receive the award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which works to improve health and health care in the U.S. Besides the award, the city received a $25,000 cash prize.

The award was presented to Vicksburg earlier this month at ceremonies in Princeton, N.J. Attending the ceremony were Mayor George Flaggs Jr., Jane Flowers, Marcia Weaver, Connelly, Linda Fondren and Mark Buys.

Flowers, Weaver, Connelly and Fondren were members of the Vicksburg Live Healthy Action Team that prepared the application and presentations that helped the city get the award.