Residents at Still Hopes in W. Columbia, SC enjoy a "Cross Country" Walking Conquest!

- The Wellness Director of Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community in West Columbia, South Carolina has been busy! Denise Heimlich, a charter member of Vitalife has created a walking program that is different from anything we have seen before, and the residents are more active than ever! Denise created a "Cross Country Walk." Denise elaborates:

"I used MapQuest to find out mileage from Columbia to each of the milestone cities. I multiplied the mileage by 100 to determine a relative number of steps required. Those counting steps are using THW pedometers. For those who do not wish to mess with a pedometer or who do not take very many steps, minutes walking are used to calculate distance traveled. I used actual mileage figures for the required minutes. Using Life Trail equipment is a bonus. Each participant gets extra steps or minutes for each station used. If he or she uses all the stations in one day, he or she gets an additional bonus, ie. 1000 steps instead of 900 or 30 minutes instead of 27.We chart weekly progress on a giant poster that is placed outside the Bistro so that all can see it. Small surprise Shreveport, Pecos, and Yuma. LifeTrail donated 8 shirts and we awarded these shirts (again a surprise) to the first 8 people who reached Abilene, which is halfway through to San Diego. I am having T shirts printed for those who make it all the way to San Diego."

Way to go Denise! We celebrate you and thank you for your program contribution!