43
Shepherd employees’ loss will be food bank’s gain
Photo
Karen Lambert (left) finished first overall in the Pound for Pound Challenge at Shepherd of the Valley. The event was organized by company Wellness Coordinator Charity Ricciardi (right).
Photo
The team of Patty Brinko (left), Lana Butler and Karen Lambert (right), named The Luscious Losers, competed in the Pound for Pound Challenge.
Photo
Neighbors | Submitted.Brenda Montone (left) and Kate Davis were two of over 125 Sheperd of the Valley employees who participated in the Pound for Pound Challenge this spring.
By ERIC HAMILTON
Karen Lambert is hooked on Hostess cupcakes. You know, the ones with chocolate icing on top and white cream inside.
“I love those things,” said Lambert.
But the nurse at Shepherd of the Valley location in Boardman likes helping others even more than her guilty pleasure. And she proved it.
Lambert was one of more than 125 Shepherd employees who recently participated in the Pound for Pound Challenge as part of the popular show “The Biggest Loser.”
This spring, the show issued a “Lose Weight and Feed Your Community Pound for Pound Challenge” through its website. The challenge promised to donate 14 cents per pledged pound to Feeding America Æ, enough to deliver 1 pound of groceries to a local food bank for every pound pledged.
At about the same time, Shepherd of the Valley Wellness Coordinator Charity Ricciardi was looking for a new idea to help employees lose weight.
”I wanted to find a fun way to encourage our employees to eat healthier and lose weight,” she explained. “The tie-in to The Biggest Loser and Second Harvest provided an additional incentive and added to the fun.”
Forty-three teams of two or three competed in the challenge and the organization signed up and committed to losing 800 total pounds.
By the end of eight weeks, the employees were 921 pounds lighter — an average of 7.4 pounds per person.
“I wasn’t sure how many we’d get to participate because some don’t like other people looking at the scale,” said Riccardi. “But we had a lot of fun with it and the teamwork really helped everyone be successful. It was nice to see everyone encourage each other and hold each other accountable.”
In addition to the incentive of helping raise food for Second Harvest, the teams were also motivated by weekly prizes and awards at the end of the challenge.
“We gave gift cards weekly to the teams that did the best,” said Riccardi. “We also gave prize packs to the top three individuals overall.”
Lambert lost 10 percent of her body weight. She fell just short of her goal of 12 percent.
“That’s still pretty good,” said Lambert. “I’ve kept going after the challenged ended and have lost even more. It was great because we all worked hard to lose some weight and Second Harvest gained a lot of food that can go to those who need a hand right now. That feels good.”
The effort at Shepherd is one of several throughout the Valley. Groups in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties pledged to lose 15.661 pounds as part of the Pound for Pound Challenge.
At the conclusion of the challenge at the end of June, Feed America will send a check for $2,178.54 to Second Harvest Food Bank.
“We will be able to feed a lot of people,” said Becky Miller, assistant director of Resource Development at Second Harvest. “I know the team at Shepherd did very well and surpassed their goal. We appreciate their contribution. For every $1 we get in donations, we can provide $15 worth of food, so we’ll be able to provide meals for many people.”