FOOD For Lane County Benefits from Local Corporate Weight Loss Challenge:

PacificSource Health Plans and Lane Community College to Donate Nearly 400 Cans of Food

Eugene, Ore. – PacificSource Health Plans announced today the winter quarter results from the Healthy You, Healthy Community: Corporate Weight Loss Challenge, a joint wellness initiative involving PacificSource and Lane Community College employees. For every pound lost by participating employees a can of food is being donated to FOOD for Lane County. Between the two community partners, 70 participants lost a total of 377 pounds of weight in a three-month period, equaling a donation of 377 cans to FOOD for Lane County.

Challenge participants, along with PacificSource and Lane Community College representatives, will be delivering the final portion of canned food for this quarter at FOOD for Lane County on Monday, May 3, at 4:00 p.m.

Through the program PacificSource and LCC employees voluntarily competed in the following categories: most improved fitness level, most improved diet, highest percentage of weight loss and most pounds lost. Participants received weekly motivational e-mails that included words of encouragement, weight loss tips, and other wellness tools on topics ranging from proper nutrition to helping kick start a fitness program. Monthly and weekly weigh-ins tracked participants’ progress. The challenge will run for the remainder of 2010.

“We are always looking for ways to engage our own employees in wellness,” says PacificSource Health Plans Wellness Coordinator Charis Allenbaugh. “We hit upon this Corporate Weight Loss Challenge as a fun, incentive-based program that would also help us create a healthier community while serving those in need. Lane Community College is a PacificSource client with many of the same workplace wellness goals as us, so joining forces for this initiative helped us achieve a greater impact in our community.”

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, 67 percent of Americans struggle with their weight. Here in Oregon, 24 percent of the population is considered obese. In 2008, according to the Center for Disease Control, health issues related to obese Oregonians contributed to 781 million dollars in medical expenses.

A struggling economy and high unemployment have put an increasing demand on local food banks. According to a recent survey published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than one in seven American households experiences hunger or the risk of hunger.

Healthy You, Healthy Communities: Corporate Weight Loss Challenge food donation delivery:

Monday, May 3, 2010, at 4:00 p.m.
FOOD for Lane County
770 Bailey Hill Road
Eugene, Or 97402
(541) 343-2822
foodforlanecounty.org