It’s that time of year when some of us see the new year as a time to make some resolutions to better ourselves. There’s often a sermon this time of year about doing that and most of us do want to always better ourselves. Making progress is in our blood. A common New Year’s resolution people have is to shed some unwanted pounds or get back to working out in the gym. Well, this year there’s even more incentive to work on those goals with the Million Pound Challenge.
The idea is simple: for every pound of weight you lose, the Princeton Clubs, and corporate sponsors, will contribute 10 pounds of food, to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin, up to one million pounds. That’s 500 tons of food!
You’re not only bettering yourself, for the work you do, you’re donating food thanks to the sponsors of the event.
About Second Harvest
Not long ago, I took a tour of their facility on the east side of
Madison. It’s quite impressive. They have food distribution down to a
science and are always working on ways to creatively receive more food.
They have many deals with local grocery stores and food distributors
which helps them receive the food they need. They also have local
sponsors and groups that put out the food donation drums where people
like you and I can bring in canned goods. Food is donated many ways,
which helps them distribute to each food pantry in our area. For every
$1 donated, $0.95 of it goes toward food – that’s just an amazing
statistic that you cannot find with a lot of non-profits these days.
There are more than 100,000 people in our area that need food. With
the tough economy we were just in, many people have lost their jobs and
need help to provide for their families. You’ll find everyday people at
food pantries. Someone you know or your neighbor could be using one
right now. It’s very likely. Second Harvest Foodbank is on track to
deliver more than 8.5 million pounds of food this year. There are 200
member foodbanks that they deliver to in 16 counties here in Southern
Wisconsin. That’s a lot of food for our local area!
It’s a Team Effort!
One great benefit of the Million Pound Challenge is that it
encourages people to join teams and work together. You will do much
better if you have partners and people helping you. It’s also fun to be
the one encouraging others. You can workout together with friends or
people from your church or neighborhood. You can encourage others that
are taking part and be accountable to them so that you all keep working
toward your weight loss or exercise goals.
There are local, Madison churches like Damascus Road, Lake City Church, Lakeshore Church, Bethesda, Bethany UMC, Metro Believers Church, Capitoland Christian Center and others already signed up.
It Doesn’t Take Much
Just working out a few hours a week or 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a
week can make a difference. Watching calories and your sugar intake
will also help. I know people that have just stopped drinking soda and
they’ve seen weight loss happen. A few, simple things can go a long
way. Be sure to set attainable goals for yourself. The program runs 21
weeks, so just losing 10 pounds might be something you can easily do
during that time. Your 10 pounds will be 100 pounds of food for Second
Harvest and local food pantries. Do it for yourself and do it for
others.
Sign Up Now
If you want to sign up, it’s easy to do. Just go to the Million Pound Challenge website
and click on the "Sign Up" button at the top right. You can do it
individually or join a team. You can choose to lose weight or just use
the hours your exercise to donate food. It’s up to you. You also get to
choose which food bank will receive your donated food.
As of today, there have been over 400,000 pounds pledged! That
number is growing by the hour. This is a great program for your church
to join and work on as a team. If your church hasn’t started a group
yet, then go ahead and create a new team for them to join. Tell others
about it, invite them and then work together toward your goals!