The Butler County Resource Council was the recent recipient of the Heartland Moves Grant through the Prevention Research Center at Washington University.
According to BCRC Prevention Director Abby Hanner, the grant will allow the council to assist with the designation of community walking groups, as well as advertisement for the program.
The Butler County Wellness Council, an extension of the BCRC, promotes physical activity, nutrition and healthy habits among communities.
The Wellness Council has organized the walking groups in three different areas of Poplar Bluff and will be active for the months of April and May.
Hanner said there will be four groups meeting at various locations, one group will meet at McLane Park, two groups will meet at Hendrickson Park and a senior walking group will be meeting at the Twin Towers at Poplar Bluff Housing Authority.
“Anybody can join any group. When they go online to fill out the form and sign up they can see the different options, basically, each group is just a different time and location, so whatever works best for them,” explained Hanner, “but it’s for anybody, any age, any ability level, any experience level is welcome to join.”
All of the groups will be meeting during the months of April and May with a designated walking leader twice a week for around 30 minutes in the park areas mentioned.
The Wellness Council is responsible for encouraging and maintaining things like community gardens, walking groups, educational campaigns and other healthy lifestyle activities.
This is the first walking group event the BCWC has overseen, “This is kind of our trial run to see how everything goes,” said Hanner.
She went on to add the response to the program has been positive amongst community members, “we have over 20 people that signed up to join the groups. So we’re super excited about that. We are off to a great start.”
Signups for the walking groups will be open through March 31. Anyone can sign up for by going to thecrc.org and clicking the button that says walking group sign up or go to the BCRC Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bccrc/ and a link is provided.
Hanner said the BCRC does have some other events in the works.
“Last year, we did the Walktober competition, which was a competition where people could walk for the entire month of October, track their mileage on an app and the three people that walked the most got a prize,” explained Hanner, “we will be doing that event again in October and we’re also looking to do some new exciting things leading up to that.”
If you are interested in joining the Butler County Wellness Council, need assistance with signing up or have questions call 573-776-7830 or email abby.hanner@thecrc.org.