Two community organizations in Montello, Wisconsin recently teamed up to help community members lead healthier and more connected lives. Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth of Marquette County and Marquette County Healthy Eating Active Lifestyles (HEAL) presented a wellness challenge to Marquette County that allowed citizens to make connections in the community, focus on personal and family health, and win prizes.
Whitni Kral, HC • HY’s neighborhood liaison, developed the wellness challenge, which consists of 100 healthy activities. Anyone interested in participating in the challenge simply picked up a form that listed all of the activities from a local library, post office, school or county office, or downloaded it from the HC • HY of Marquette County Web site.
The goal of the challenge was to complete 50 of the activities before the deadline on April 12, 2010. “It’s a fun way to make some positive changes in your life,” said Kral.
While many of the activities were aimed at improving personal health and wellness, others helped participants to create a healthy, supportive, and connected community. Below are a few of the activities from the challenge:
1. Help a neighbor with yard work or other outdoor chores
2. Get a friend to exercise with you
3. Use a reusable grocery bag
4. Remove the skin from poultry before cooking to lower fat
5. Walk your family pet 3 times this week
6. Attend a theatre/music event at a local school
The challenge form allows participants to record which activities they completed, when they were completed, and with whom they were completed. At the end of the challenge, families turned in their forms to HC • HY of Marquette County for a chance to win prizes.
See what else the Marquette County health department is doing to promote health
Shortly after the end of the challenge, HC • HY of Marquette County and Marquette County HEAL hosted an event called No Family Left Inside. At this event, which focused on encouraging families to spend time being active outside, challenge forms were drawn at random and prizes were distributed. The prizes secured by the organizations included canoe and camping trips, sporting goods, a massage, an oil change, yoga classes, a haircut, flowers, memberships to a local gym, gift certificates, and various other items.
Read about No Families Left Inside 2010
By encouraging their citizens to build assets such as Caring Neighborhood (#4), Service to Others (#9), and Restraint (#31), HC • HY of Marquette County and Marquette County HEAL created a community that is on its way to being healthier, happier, and more connected.
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