Mahaska Wellness Coalition Encourages Community to Burst Your Thirst
People gathered at the square on for the end of the 100 Day Challenge. (file photo)
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Mahaska County residents did an outstanding job with the Live Healthy Iowa 100-day Wellness Challenge. Over 660 adults and 1,555 youth participated. “Mahaska County ranked 6th in the state with 10.6% of our county population participating,” said Deb Bruxvoort, OACDG and Mahaska Wellness Coalition member. “We ranked 5th highest for number of adult participants and the 4th highest for youth. In the 251 – 1,000 employees category, we have 4 businesses in the top 30: Mahaska Health Partnership, Oskaloosa Community School District, Musco and Clow.”
“County participants logged over 1,270,000 minutes of activity. We lost an equivalent of 7,684 quarter pound hamburgers and 2,561 cans of pop. I know people were active this winter. The YMCA had record usage and I am thrilled that the YMCA is able to help people get healthy,” Dawn Collins, Mahaska County YMCA Executive Director and coalition member added.
Another campaign is available this summer through Live Healthy Iowa. The summer campaign is called “Burst Your Thirst” and runs from June 18 – July 30. Registration opened on May 8. It is only $8 per person with 2-10 people on a team. Team members will be asked to track water consumption and minutes of physical activity. Each team member will report their weekly total. “Water is critical to a healthy lifestyle,” said Sherry Vavra, MCRF Executive Director and coalition member. “A good rule of thumb is to drink your body weight in ounces of water every day.”
Burst Your Thirst participants will receive:
• Burst Your Thirst water bottle
• Weekly email containing hydration tips, healthy recipes and fun summer activity ideas
• Personal tracking page
• Unlimited access to recipes, videos, workouts and health information on the Live Healthy Iowa website
• Opportunities to win prizes and incentives
How do I get started?
1. Choose to ‘Burst Your Thirst’ this summer from June 18 – July 30 with Live Healthy Iowa!
2. Build your team of 2-10 people, choose a team name and designate a captain.
3. Sign up! Go to www.livehealthyiowa.org, and click on ‘Join Today’ to register your team.
Teams registered by June 5 will receive their water bottles on or before June 15. Water bottles will be shipped to each team captain for distribution to team members.
For more information, go to the Live Healthy Iowa website or contact Deann DeGroot at the Oskaloosa Area Chamber & Development Group at 641.672.2591.
