Walking challenge benefits Hero Fund
Close to 400 county residents walked a total of 148 million steps to support firstresponders.
WEST CHESTER » How far would you go, or specifically, how many steps would you take to support a first-responder?
During the Chester County Walk Challenge, more than 148.3 million steps were taken by members of the three first-responder teams. Team Fire, Team Law Enforcement and Team Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were each captained by a Chester County Commissioner and were tasked with signing up the most walkers and clocking the most steps.
At the Chester County Commissioners Sunshine Meeting last week, Health Department Director Jeanne Casner announced the results of the WalkWorks ChesCo! First Responder Challenge — a competition that asked Chester County residents to support the county’s 5,000plus emergency responders by joining a first-responder team to compete and see who could walk the most steps in an eight-week period.
Close to 400 county residents took part in the First Responder Challenge. Team Fire, captained by Commissioner Terence Farrell, clocked the highest cumulative steps with more than 53 million. Team Law Enforcement, captained by Commissioner Michelle Kichline, registered the highest average individual steps at 8,180 per day. Team EMS member Yolanda Van de Krol had the highest average daily steps at more than 26,000 a day.
To incentivize team members throughout the Challenge period, the winning team was promised a donation, made in its name, to the Chester County Hero Fund. The Hero Fund provides financial assistance to the families of Chester County police officers, deputy sheriffs, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics or state troopers who have lost their life, or who are seriously injured in the line of duty. Through contributions made by Metropolitan Communications, ACD Telecom, Belfor, Witmer Public Safety Group and Colonial Hyundai, $3,300 was received by the Chester County Hero Fund, in the name of Team Fire.
“While all three teams were able to claim a winning element of the First Responder Challenge, we know that the real winners are all those who took steps to improve their health by increasing their walking during this challenge, and the Chester County Hero Fund,” Jeanne Casner said.
“Almost half of the deaths that occur in the line of duty for first responders are the result of risks that can be decreased simply by incorporating exercise like walking into a daily routine,” said Bobby Kagel, director of the Chester County Department of Emergency Services. “This WalkWorks challenge was not just fun, it was a ‘step forward’ in keeping our responders healthy and safe. I also thank all the county residents who joined in the challenge to show their support for our first responders.”
WalkWorks ChesCo! is a program that promotes, educates and empowers county residents to adopt a healthier lifestyle one step at a time by creating more places for walking, supporting and promoting walking groups, coordinating walking challenges, and importantly, creating the website that allows everyone to track and tally their steps. It is the county’s response to the national Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge, a two-year competition that empowers cities and counties across the nation to create a positive health impact. At the end of
2016, the county was selected out of 400 applications as one of 50 members of the HealthCommunity 50 and received $10,000 in community seed funds to establish WalkWorks ChesCo!
In the first nine months of WalkWorks ChesCo!, up to the end of 2017, county residents registered more than 1.5 billion steps. The goal set for 2018 is to increase that number to five billion steps. If judged the most successful Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge program,
Chester County will receive $500,000 which will be used to further enhance health programs for all county residents. The Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge is a partnership established between the Aetna Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the National Association of Counties. More information about the WalkWorks ChesCo! program and how to register can be found at www. chesco.org/walkworks.