Wellness Institute Community Partners achieve TEN MILLION STEPS! "Explore Buffalo" Leads the Way!
Explore Buffalo, an Affiliate of the nonprofit Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, provides opportunities to discover Buffalo's great architecture, history, and neighborhoods. Their mission is accomplished by providing guidance and encouragement to participants to develop their interest and skills in educating others on these valuable assets. Children are also offered the opportunity to learn about the history of Buffalo and their role in the future while offering health enhancing, social capital building, and environmentally friendly activities.
Executive Director Brad Hahn says, "Adding up all of the people who have taken an Explore Buffalo tour in 2014 - currently about 4,000 - and multiplying it by an average of 3,000 steps per tour, we are currently over 12 MILLION steps! At one event alone, our "Architectural Pursuit" downtown scavenger hunt on October 11th, one participant with a pedometer counted 11,130 steps - and with 51 participants, that would equal over 567,000 steps in one afternoon alone. That is real evidence of a community becoming healthier not only physically, but also socially, as everyone on our tours gains a greater appreciation of all that Buffalo has to offer."
Phil Haberstro of the Wellness Insitute adds, "The steps from the Explore Buffalo Walks, the 16 BeActive Erie County Park and Mall Walks, the Rapha Family Medicine Summer Walk, the Erie County Downtown Walk at Lunch walk, and the 19 BNMC Wellness on Wednesday WOW Walk series, the total steps are in the tens of millions." The Explore Buffalo Team and all of the Wellness Institute's Community Partners are to be commended for helping to get Greater Buffalo moving!!
Buffalo Bills and Independent Health announce a Health & Wellness Challenge for all
Independent Health and the Buffalo Bills are teaming up to give our community extra incentive to get healthier. Join their Health & Wellness Challenge and you can earn points for making healthy choices. You'll have a chance to win some great prizes-including a trip to the Super Bowl. The Challenge starts October 6th and run through November 16th.
Participants will earn points by meeting three weekly goals:
Exercise three times a week for at least 30 minutes, Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, Drink eight glasses of water ever day. You can also complete one daily challenge for additional points to gain more chances to win. Each challenge integrates health tips that help you learn about fitness and nutrition, to stay healthy even after the challenge is completed.
You'll receive daily emails as a reminder to log in and learn about each daily challenge. Weekly prizes include Bills items or game tickets, with the grand prize being a trip for two to the Super Bowl in Phoenix.
Phil Haberstro, Executive Director of the Wellness Institute, is happy to serve on the Advisory Committee for The Challenge.
Sign up today at www.BuffaloBills.com/TheChallenge
The Concept of Wellness
The Concept of "Wellness"
The Concept of Wellness as self defined optimal physical, mental and spiritual well-being, is both a historic and contemporary dream of American civil society. Fueled by the power of the words “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, Americans (and other societies) have consistently strived to ensure both the individual and societal achievement of personal and national levels of well being. Through an empowering balance of individual initiative and societal responsibility to each other, American society has come close to achieving a sustainable quality of life unmatched in human history.
While defining and measuring “wellness” has posed a challenge to both academics and advocates, the more formidable task has been understanding and facilitating the American path to higher levels of personal, organizational or community wellness. Inspired by the Global Healthy Communites movement and the 1989 launch of the USA Healthy Communities movement by the National Civic League (www.NCL.org ) the challenge of “Creating Healthy Communities” formed the strategic basis for the founding (1989) of The Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo and the substance of the Institute’s interdisciplanary work, learning, sharing and contributions to achieving our community's Vision for its citizens personal wellness and enhanced quality of life.
PHILP L HABERSTRO - Founder of The Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo and Western New York USA
