The story below is from our November/December 2022 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
The staff at Physicians to Children walked over twelve million steps in five weeks for local charities.
Melissa Lempeckski / Courtesy of Physicians to Children
Physicians to Children walking teams celebrate incredible community outreach.
When Physicians to Children pediatrician Dr. Mark McBride suggested an exercise competition to his staff, they rose to the challenge beyond all expectations.
“I’d been walking regularly for about four months myself, and when I approached the office about an exercise challenge, I got an immediate response from about 15 employees, but it spiraled and evolved quickly from there!” McBride says.
The staff formed four walking teams to compete over the course of five weeks, which took place during one of their busiest times of the year. McBride says it has done remarkably well for staff morale. McBride even surveyed his team, asking if they felt they were able to influence others, of which a majority answered no. McBride says he would refute that beyond a doubt after watching his team over those weeks, influencing each other to work hard – 22 of the 36 walkers had their best week in the final fifth week! Even the handful who could not participate still contributed to the charities and took part where possible.
Staff teams could walk and earn the dollars per mile; each week, the first place team who walked the most got $250, while second place received $100 and they each picked their preferred charities for their rewards to benefit. Each week saw increased steps from every team. A different speaker also visited their offices each week, offering 20-minute sessions to discuss exercise, mindfulness and other helpful tips to keep on walking.
McBride reached out to the community for funding, not for the employees, but for charities. Community organizations rallied behind them, offering incentives for McBride’s prizes. Blue Eagle Credit Union co-sponsored their program, handling their shirts for free as well as donating a first-place prize (they even want to get in on their own competitive company walks and compete against McBride’s teams!). McBride gave out five to 10 prizes daily based on a variety of criteria, such as walking early that morning, walking with your kid, hitting 5,000 steps before noon and more. Prizes included gift cards, a free aerial view of Roanoke from a plane; another for a B&B stay; massages, horseback riding, adventuring in Craig County, ziplining Luray and more.
Melissa Lempeckski / Courtesy of Physicians to Children
The team makes blessing bags for the Rescue Mission.
“For every prize I gave, small or large, each employee wrote five positive statements and put them in our positive box. One of our community services projects [that we do weekly] was to prepare blessing bags for the Rescue Mission, and each bag got one of our positive phrases,” McBride says.
The team did similar things for other organizations, including coloring paper bags for lunches at the Ronald McDonald House. “A lot of good has come out of it, not just for the employees, but service to the community and in the workplace,” McBride says. “They walk around trying to help others because they want to get steps — and they didn’t complain once about being busy for five weeks!”
The employees walked from week one to week five, increasing their step counts by almost a million steps. One employee had broken her tailbone only three months prior, but couldn’t miss participating, even walking 187,000 in one week thanks to the friendly competition. Another employee with a recent knee replacement walked 90,000 steps “because she said she was motivated by the momentum and camaraderie of the staff.”
It’s that motivation that made it fun during one of their busiest times of the year. One of the administrators confessed it was hard for them to stop walking now that the competition was over — especially when the dogs and kids go to the door every evening expecting their neighborhood walks!
“After 28 years, it showed me how motivating it can be for a group of adults to be healthier and participate in something,” McBride says. “It’s created habits and I enjoy hearing the stories. I love the fact they really participated in every aspect of it!”
Keep up with their experiences (and see if other businesses are challenging them to future walking competitions!) through McBride’s detailed blog at wewalkwithpurpose.com.
The story below is from our November/December 2022 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!