Supporting adults with disabilities to enjoy active and fulfilling lives.

At Goodwill we believe the power of work transforms lives, and we also believe the power of exercise does too! That’s why our team at the Day Service Center in Waukesha has started a weekly walking challenge for our participants!

Our center is very lucky to have Recreation Assistant, John Megan, who is an active runner and coach. So, it was not a surprise when John presented this idea to us. This friendly competition began as a way to increase our participants’ physical activity, develop awareness of healthy lifestyle choices, and increase interactions with their peers.

Now through the end of May each participant who chooses to take the walking challenge will wear a pedometer and earn points. Each week they can walk with John individually or as a group. It’s completely up to them. The points are tracked and then logged on a chart that is displayed in our program area for all to see.

Not only will our participants enjoy the benefits of walking, they will also benefit from a sit down session with John to discuss other healthy lifestyles such as drinking water, eating the right foods, getting a good night sleep, and personal hygiene.

Almost all of our program participants have joined the challenge, which is great. We do, have one special participant who is taking this challenge very seriously. Her name is Alissa. She loves that John started the walking challenge and enjoys seeing her points accumulate on the chart each week. Most of all, she enjoys being cheered on by her friends and staff members as she walks!

Each person who participates in the walking challenge will receive a prize and the top point earners will be given an award. It’s so encouraging to me to see our participants get excited about fitness, and so fun to witness their competitive spirits. If you’d like to learn more about activities at our Waukesha Day Service Center feel free to send me an email at jennifer.ott@goodwillsew.com.