It is Day 1 of the Heart of Hunger Challenge and I’m happy to report that I completed my outside mile for today!
When I heard about the Heart of Hunger Challenge I quickly signed up and passed the information on to BAC staff. To be honest, I didn’t give it a great deal of thought. A few hours later I googled some hunger statistics and the challenge became much more than a commitment to run or walk a mile outside every day in February. I knew that COVID related job losses meant food insecurity was on the rise in our community but I was startled by the numbers. Nineteen percent of MA residents face daily food insecurity. The numbers are far worse in communities that were already suffering from economic hardship.
As the day went on, I received message after message from BAC staff members who wanted to participate. We now have a team of 19 who have committed to walking or running at least one mile outside for all 28 days of February!
I’ve spoken often about how impressed I am by the talented people I work with at the BAC. And this feels like another perfect opportunity for me to tell you just how much I love this team! In a year marked by fear and struggle, our BAC staff has consistently found a way to show up to work with abundant joy, creativity, and empathy. They support each other in a million ways from covering for each other when someone is out, to getting a colleague outside for a mid day walk, and to the sharing of many, many treats. I know that between the energy they put into their work here and the energy of living a COVID-laden life outside of work, that their days are full.
Very full.
And yet...they sign up! They say yes to bundling up daily to challenge themselves to 1 mile outside.They say yes to adding one more thing to their to-do list and they say yes to being a small part of the solution. They say yes because hunger in our community is not acceptable.
Day 1 down, 27 to go.
Team BAC will gladly accept your encouragement as we face February outside to complete this challenge!
Even better, if you’d like to support the work of the United Way of Tri-County and their commitment to ending food insecurity in our neighborhoods please go to https://www.uwotc.org/heart.
You can follow Team BAC in our Heart of Hunger Challenge all month on Instagram here or our Facebook here.
