Hillsborough County Needs Your Help to Walk to the Moon

From Hillsborough County Government Online:

Hillsborough County government is helping to kickoff the ONE BAY: Healthy Communities’ Walk to the Moon Challenge, and encourages all residents to help us launch this regional effort.

This kickoff will be on Wednesday, April 4, at 11:45 a.m., at Joe Chillura Courthouse Square Park on East Kennedy Boulevard and North Morgan Street in downtown.

At the kickoff event, the Hillsborough County Commission will present a proclamation designating April 2012 as Healthy Counties, Healthy Families Month. Then, the community will walk to the Tampa Bay Times Forum and back (about 0.7 miles each way).

The ONE BAY Walk to the Moon Challenge kicks off in conjunction with the American Heart Association’s “Start Walking Day,” and runs through Wednesday, May 23.

The challenge ignites enthusiasm for a healthier lifestyle, as collectively, the people who live and work in the Tampa Bay region’s eight counties walk 238,857 miles - the distance to the moon!

In the Walk to the Moon Challenge, the American Heart Association tracks registered participants’ activity, and ONE BAY supplies prizes. Prizes will be awarded during a post-event rally.

Both individuals and teams may enter the challenge. There is no limit to team size, and no fee to participate.

Register online to have the miles you walk add up to help the Tampa Bay region Walk to the Moon. Visit http://startwalkingnow.org/ and click the orange “Register” button. Be sure to enter ONE BAY WALK CHALLENGE in the “Company” field to make your miles count for our region. To take part as a team, make sure your team is registered and enter your team’s name into the form too.

The ONE BAY: Healthy Communities initiative has convened a diverse group of stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors and challenged them to find ways for communities to become more proactive, gain a better understanding of our unique health and community issues, and commit to working together to remove barriers and promote a healthy lifestyle for all residents.

For more information, visit www.healthytampabay.com.