Lose For Good

At last night’s Weight Watchers meeting, instead of boxes of weight watchers branded products, the shelves were stacked with (not nearly enough) non-perishable foods.  We’re in the 3rd week of Weight Watchers’ 2nd Annual Lose For Good campaign.  Last year, WW members lost over 4 million pounds and donated over 1.5 million pounds of food during our individual locations food drives.

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I get warm fuzzies when the businesses that get my money find ways to support worthwhile causes.  And knowing that the 5 pounds I’ve lost since the challenge started has resulted in, not only a healthier me but, a donation of$1.25 (and Mark’s 10 pound loss is a donation of another $2.50) to provide nutritious meals through Share Our Strength: No Kid Hungry and Action Against Hunger.

This campaign touches me in places that I don’t like to remember I have.  As a mother who used to struggle along on my own with 3 daughters,  a below poverty level income, and no child support, I remember sleepless nights of worry about how the ends were going to meet.  I will always be the first in line to donate to  holiday canned food drives… Publix back to school supplies drives… Angel Tree gifts for Christmas… mail carrier food drives…  It matters to me now, because these donation drives made all the difference to my family when we had so little.

So, if you’re doing Weight Watchers… track your weight loss online.  It matters.  Go to your meetings.  It matters.  Take a couple of cans of vegetables and a box of cereal.  It matters.

If you’re not doing Weight Watchers, please do me a teeny tiny favor and participate in Lose-A-Palooza today:

• Tweet #LoseForGood: Share how you are supporting the good with all your Twitter followers. Tweet about the way you’re helping the fight against hunger and be sure to include #LoseForGood.
• Multiply the good: Follow @sharestrength or @acfusa to fill your Twitter stream with good, and then retweet.
• Each #LoseForGood Tweet and follow to @sharestrength and @acfusa on September 15 provides $1! (up to an additional $25,000 donation from Weight Watchers)

From the Weight Watchers Website:

* Campaign Details: Available in participating areas from 08/30/09 – 10/17/09. For every 1 million pounds lost during the campaign period, Weight Watchers will donate $250,000, up to $1 million. Pounds lost by Members will be determined by average weight lost per meeting attendance during campaign period multiplied by total number of attendances during campaign period. Pounds lost by Weight Watchers Online Subscribers will be determined by total weight loss recorded in the Weight Tracker during campaign period. All weight losses are subject to our healthy weight loss guidelines. Donations will be made 70% to Share our Strength and 30% to Action Against Hunger. To learn more about the participating charities visit www.strength.org and www.actionagainsthunger.org.