million pounds lost.
This year’s challenge started Sept. 1 and ended Oct. 17. The
local group, which has 200 active members, lost 637 pounds, and da
Costa said part of the inspiration came from helping the Community
Food Bank.
”
We more than doubled what we collected last year,
”
she said.
Mary Anne Hughes, the executive director of Community Food Bank,
and another board member came to each of the meetings early on in
the challenge to talk about the needs.
As part of the local Weight Watchers “Lose for Good” Campaign, local members collected more than 700 pounds of food for donation to Community Food Bank, as well as toiletries to be donated to local shelters.
“This is a national program that Weight Watchers is doing,” said Ruth Mendes da Costa, a local Weight Watchers service provider. “Nationally, they pledge to donate up to a million pounds of food for every pound lost. They ask local chapters to match pound for pound to a local [charity].”
Last year, the national chapter did make its goal of a million pounds lost.
This year’s challenge started Sept. 1 and ended Oct. 17. The local group, which has 200 active members, lost 637 pounds, and da Costa said part of the inspiration came from helping the Community Food Bank.
“We more than doubled what we collected last year,” she said.
Mary Anne Hughes, the executive director of Community Food Bank, and another board member came to each of the meetings early on in the challenge to talk about the needs.
“It’s not just people down on their luck, but the working poor and people who really need this help,” da Costa said. “They explained how many more people they served than when they started, so it really helped to have them come down and talk to us.”
She said they put a big chart up on the wall in the meeting room so that people could map the progress over the seven-week campaign.
“It just felt like a really good thing to do and it was so easy,” she said. “It was an easy way to get the food to the people who need it.”-
For more information on Weight Watchers, call 1-800-651-5000 or visit 321 San Felipe Road, Ste. 12.
