Dash From Obesity

I am doing something that a couple of years ago I would have never thought possible. I am participating in the 2011 Warrior Dash when it comes to Minnesota this year the weekend of July 23 & 24. I will be doing my dash on Sunday the 24th as part of the 1:30pm wave.

Now two years and 180 pounds ago, I just plain would not have been able to pull this off. And since the fine folks at Bariatric TV stepped up to help me out with this at a time when unemployment looked to put a kibosh on my hopes of participating, I decided the best thing I could do was pay it forward and turn this in to a fundraiser.

Not only that, you get to (sort of) choose just what group you help out here. Now of course, I’m sticking with obesity related groups here, but I’m giving you a choice of three very worthy causes.

Obesity Action Coalition (obesityaction.org) – The OAC is the only non-profit organization whose sole focus is helping individuals affected by obesity through education, advocacy and support.

Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America (wlsfa.org) – The WLSFA is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping folks in need of bariatric surgery but who either are not insured or have been denied insurance get it.

Turn the Tide Foundation (turnthetidefoundation.org) – Their vision is a future in which obesity is no longer a major cause of chronic disease, no longer epidemic, and no longer a threat to our children. A modern world in which eating well, being physically active, remaining lean and enjoying robust good health all lie along the path of least resistance, and are simply routine.

For the nitty-gritty details, here’s How It Works,  but a quick summary; it’s basically like a raffle, you choose to donate money to any one, two or all three of the above groups… your donation gets you chances to win the prizes. The more you donate, the more chances. All donations will be done directly to the organizations, you just provide me with a copy of your receipt from them so I can verify it, and then yer in.

I live in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area, some of the prizes will be specific to services/businesses in this area… but I will have a number of items that can go to anyone, anywhere (depending on shipping restrictions)… I’ll be updating The Prizes page as I get prize sponsors lined up.