Allamakee County wins Live Healthy Iowa's Community Cup Challenge

What began as a step in the right direction in January of this year eventually ended up in Des Moines in early May, with nearly a million minutes of physical activity logged along the way, a shiny Community Cup Challenge trophy brought back to Allamakee County, and a healthier lifestyle adopted by many.
The recently completed 100 Day Wellness Challenge started by Live Healthy Iowa in January presented numerous incentive programs to try and promote health and wellness throughout the state. Allamakee County not only rose to that Challenge, but also above every other community involved in the Community Cup incentive portion of the Challenge, to claim top honors in the inaugural year of the Community Cup Challenge. The 100 Day Challenge was begun as a means to help reach Iowa Governor Terry Branstad's goal of making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation within the next five years.
As co-leader of the Get Active Allamakee Wellness Coalition recently formed to promote participation in the 100 Day Challenge, Stefanie Perkins of Waukon traveled to the State Capitol building in Des Moines Thursday, May 17 to accept the Community Cup Challenge trophy after it was announced that Allamakee County had won this year's competition. Perkins shared the Coalition's co-leadership duties with Dani Bucknell, who was unable to make the trip but who proudly displays the silver trophy at the Waukon Wellness Center where she serves as director and where many of those nearly million minutes of physical activity were logged by Allamakee County residents throughout this year's Challenge.
“It was awesome to see such great participation in Allamakee County,” commented Bucknell following completion of the Challenge. “Thank you to everyone who participated!  We hope to see you join the challenge next year!”
The Get Active Allamakee coalition took that initial step toward trying to improve Allamakee County's 97th-place wellness standing out of Iowa's 99 counties by locally promoting the 100 Day Wellness Challenge, with a goal of 10% of the county's population participating. The end result was a goal-surpassing 12.8% of the county's adults and children participating, ranking Allamakee County fourth among the 25 community organizations participating in the Community Cup Challenge. Only Union County (24.44%), Appanoose County (21.53%) and the Iowa community of Nevada (14.21%) had higher percentages of their populations participating in the Challenge, all of them with smaller population totals than Allamakee County.
If surpassing that goal was not satisfying enough already, Allamakee County residents proved that they were dedicated to the program as well, with a state-leading 70.85% of adults participating in the 100 Day Challenge reporting results in at least 11 of the program's 15 weeks. The next closest Community Cup Challenge community was Chickasaw County with 67.10% of its participants completing the program.
It was those combined rankings of fourth in percentage of overall population and first in percentage of participating adults completing the Challenge that pushed Allamakee County to the top of this year's Community Cup Challenge standings. The trophy awarded to Allamakee County is a traveling award, with Allamakee County being the first name engraved on the inaugural award.
"They said they hope Allamakee County continues to win it because they don't want to drive all the way up here from Des Moines to pick it up," relayed Perkins with a smile.
“Iowans love a challenge and this has been no exception,” said Nicole Bruce, health initiatives director of Live Healthy Iowa. “The competition was very tight among the businesses and communities taking part in the Corporate and Community Cup Challenge, and we are so pleased to see these efforts.”

MORE WINNERS IN
ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
In addition to the Community Cup Challenge, Allamakee County was also home to other winners within the overall scheme of the 100 Day Challenge. Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon and the fifth grade class taught by Joe O'Neill at East Elementary School in Waukon were each recipients of some monetary rewards for their participation in different Challenge incentives.
O'Neill's fifth grade class was selected in a random drawing from among schools across the state of Iowa that participated in either the Live Healthy Iowa Kids Governor's Challenge or the Go The Distance Day incentives to promote healthier lifestyles for Iowa youth. O'Neill's class was awarded one of four $500 cash awards randomly drawn from among those participating schools. The funds were awarded at a school assembly Tuesday, May 22 at East Elementary and are to be used for equipment to further promote physical education and fitness.
The Governor’s Challenge, a 100-day wellness challenge inspiring youth to be more active and make better nutrition choices, had 31,004 participants from 3,122 schools take part in this team-based initiative. Go The Distance Day, a free, one-day event encouraging Iowa schools to engage their students in 30 minutes of continuous activity, had 77,620 youth from 231 schools across the state participate.
“We are thrilled to have so many kids in Iowa taking part in these events,” said Bruce. “The participation numbers reflect a growing momentum to make our state a healthier place to live, work and play.”
To learn more about the Governor’s Challenge or Go The Distance Day, go to www.livehealthyiowakids.org.

Within the business realm, Veterans Memorial Hospital further proved Allamakee County's commitment to a healthier way of life by winning its district level of competition in an incentive program sponsored by the Iowa Hospital Association in conjunction with the 100 Day Challenge.
Nearly 270 Iowa businesses and organizations, including 57 hospitals, competed for the Live Healthy Iowa Corporate Cup, a 100 Day Challenge incentive for businesses to promote wellness in the workplace. At the same time, hospitals also competed for an Iowa Hospital Association incentive:  a $500 donation to the foundation of the top-scoring hospital in each of the Iowa Hospital Association’s seven districts.
Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon was the contest's winner in District C, which encompasses 11 counties in northeast Iowa and includes 16 hospitals, some of which are located in the Dubuque and Waterloo-Cedar Falls areas.  Additionally, Veterans Memorial Hospital ranked fifth out of those 270 businesses competing in the Corporate Cup Challenge.
“I think it is great that the Iowa Hospital Association is so involved with the Live Healthy Iowa Campaign,” stated Mike Myers, Administrator of Veterans Memorial Hospital. “We appreciate the recognition of the efforts by the hospital staff. They have helped set a fine example of the intent of the Live Healthy Iowa program along with our partners in the community. The gift to our Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation is greatly appreciated.”
“Iowa hospitals can be proud of their participation, leadership and success in the Live Healthy Iowa 100-Day Challenge and Corporate Cup,” said Iowa Hospital Association President and CEO Kirk Norris. “Our hospital employees have set an outstanding example for their communities and the state.”
For more information about Live Healthy Iowa or any of the programs included within the 100 Day Challenge, visit www.livehealthyiowa.org.