The Goodwill Community Opportunities Club (COC) North offers a variety of activities to involve participants. One club, though, Mileage Club, consistently has the most people participating. Mileage Club is an optional activity for participants to be part of and was created to fill the need for an active lifestyle for the participants. Each day, the members go outside and walk around the wonderful 1/5-mile track behind COC North. The group chooses a destination within the United States and collectively works toward walking the miles to that destination.
At the beginning of the summer, our Mileage Club made it a goal to collectively walk the distance from COC North in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin to Des Moines, Iowa, which is a total of 560 miles. As of August, the group has reached their destination! The 20 participants who are involved in the Mileage Club walked an average of one mile each day (five laps around the track) with some participants walking almost two miles every day! One participant, Brian C., has walked over 300 laps, or 60 miles, since the Mileage Club Kickoff in April. When asked how he feels after walking that many miles, Brian says, “I feel very proud of myself for being able to accomplish such a tremendous feat! I am very happy I could help the club reach the goal and help myself stay healthy!” Congratulations to Brian and the entire Mileage Club!
The members have decided that they would like their next destination to be Chicago, Illinois! The distance from COC North to Chicago is about 95 miles. The group hopes they can collectively walk that distance in the few short months of nice weather we have left. Staff at COC North have been motivating participants to get outside as much as possible and walk as many laps as they can so they can “make it to Chicago.”
This club not only promotes exercise and a healthy lifestyle, it also gives the participants the chance to socialize and gain self-confidence. Each week, the total number of laps participants have walked are added up and displayed for everyone to see. Each member takes pride in their accomplishments and they are always eager to share their progress with staff and each other. Each participant also has a special necklace to which colorful charms are added when they walk a certain number of miles. Some participants have so many charms they need multiple necklaces!
COC North also hosts two 5K walks each year. This year, we had a Fun in the Sun 5K and will be hosting a Turkey Trot in November. The Fun in the Sun 5K had a total of 12 people walk the 15 laps around the track to complete the 5K and five people walked five laps to complete the 0.5K.
This club has made an impact in many of the participants' lives as they look forward to spending time outside walking. Congratulations to the Mileage Club for their tremendous accomplishments and good luck walking to the next destination!
