Community Wellness Walk Set for Monday

A local group of health and wellness professionals is organizing a series of community walks to get the community active.

Family Connection of Stephens County Coordinator Allyson Warren said the first walk is set for this Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Stephens County Recreation Department Rose Lane Complex.

Warren said the idea for the walks grew out of conversations about what to do about childhood obesity.

“We came together because we were concerned about childhood obesity numbers in our county and in talking with Dr. Kim Stroud at Toccoa Clinic, one of the common things she hears from patients when she discusses physical activity is they do not feel like there are safe places for their kids and their family to exercise,” said Warren. “What we decided to do is plan monthly wellness walks to get the family moving together and also to kind of show these families safe and really beautiful places we have in our county for them to exercise.”

Warren said that this is just the first of what they hope will be many monthly walks.

She said the goal is to make this a regular activity.

“The idea is that we want to move the walk to a different location every month so that families do get to see the spaces we have in our community,” said Warren.

Warren said she and the other organizers will give parents a chance to model healthy behaviors for their children.

She went on to say that the organizing team is also planning several long-term projects that include wellness programming in elementary schools and community nutrition education.

For more information on the walks, call Warren at 706-898-5116.