By Jessica Pollard

Davie Senior Services

Health/Wellness Coordinator

It is hard to forget that members of Davie County Senior Services are participating in the Billion Step Challenge.

Visitors are greeted by 763 feet displayed in the lobby when they enter the Bobby Knight Senior Services building in Mocksville. Each foot represents 10,000 steps – meaning members have collectively walked 7,638,266 steps so far.

Davie County Senior Services quickly embraced the Billion Step Challenge issued by the Wellness Group of the Healthy Davie Initiative.

In the first week of the challenge, staff at Senior Services registered more than 60 participants. Excitement filled the building, as members began tracking their steps and encouraging each other to start moving more.

To encourage the seniors to accept the challenge, Senior Services kicked off February with a group walk. Twenty-two members gathered at Brock Recreation Center to walk, participate in games, and dance the Macarena and the Chicken Dance.

Walking is not the only way to contribute to the challenge. Members who attend the exercise classes at Senior Services are counting their steps, too. One line dancing class is worth 8,340 steps while one yoga class is worth 5,340 steps.

The strength and cardio class offered, SilverHealth/Morning Wake Up, has been tracking their steps since the beginning of the challenge. The class is equal to 5,750 steps and as a group they have accumulated a total of 1,848,000 steps.

The challenge is having a visible impact on the members of Senior Services as active individuals are seeking new ways to move more and less active individuals are finding activities that allow them to begin moving.

Seniors have indicated that they feel better when they are active. Several participants have even stated that they have lost weight since the beginning of the challenge.

Senior Services does not want to lose the momentum they have built around becoming and staying active. The next group walk will be Walk in the Park With or Without the Grandkids on March 30 at 2:30 p.m. at Rich Park. Adults 55 and older and encouraged to join together, bring their grandchildren if they would like, and take an afternoon walk in the park in honor of “Take a Walk in the Park Day.”