Weight Watchers uses social media to help fight hunger
September 16, 2009
By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk
For those readers that follow this blog regularly you may recall that I wrote this post earlier this year about the success that I had in joining Weight Watchers. I've always struggled with my weight and thanks to Weight Watchers, along with a great website called Hungry Girl, they have taught me how to eat well and healthy. I reached my "healthy weight" goal and am now a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. All I need to do is weigh in with them at least once a month and maintain my weight. I'm coming up on my first year anniversary of when I initially started the program and through their help and a good exercise routine I'm in the best shape than I've been in since before I had children.
But anyhow, today I wanted to share with you a great program that Weight Watchers has recently kicked off for the second year in a row. The Lose For Good campaign was created to raise awareness about two global epidemics - obesity and hunger. Between August 30th and October 17th, as Weight Watchers members and online subscribers lose weight, the company will donate up to $1 million to two organizations - Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger.
Last year the campaign impacted more than 250,000 children and families domestically and actually represented the difference between life and death for more than 6,000 malnourished children abroad. Over 4 million pounds were lost and $1 million was donated. Also local food drives at Weight Watchers meeting locations collected 1.5 million pounds of food to distribute to families in need.
This year Jenny McCarthy, a passionate activist and actress, has joined the campaign as its ambassador. Jenny is participating in media appearances and is in a public service announcement which encourages Americans to get healthier while also helping to end hunger. In addition, Jenny helped kick off Lose For Good by participating in a ceremony where the company donated a "Good Food Garden" to the Arroyo Head Start center in Altadena, CA, run by the Center for Community and Family Services, Inc. The Arroyo Head Start center serves underprivileged children in the community and until now did not have funding to build a sustainable garden for the kids to use for educational and nutritional purposes.
"I grew up in a home where $5 could make a difference between having a family dinner or not. This is a real issue that needs attention and I'm proud to help spread the word about the Lose For Good campaign, which encourages people to get healthy while, at the same time giving back," said Jenny in a statement, who lost weight with Weight Watchers after the birth of her son.
Yesterday, September 15, Weight Watchers had a one-day event called Lose-A-Palooza in which they utilized social media as a tool to help this cause. Here's how it worked...for every accepted mention or acknowledgment of “Lose For Good” made on September 15 via blogs, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, Weight Watchers offered to make an additional donation - up to $25,000 - for just one day of social media activity. This donation is on top of the $1 million Weight Watchers is hoping to donate as part of the 2009 Lose For Good campaign!
I'm so sorry that I missed this event and that I'm writing about it a day too late. So if you're thinking that it may be time to get healthier and lose some weight, join Weight Watchers now. There's not a better time to lose. As of the time of this posting the Lose For Good website shows that members have lost 1,430,000 pounds.
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Posted by: Food | January 09, 2010 at 09:12 AM
What an amazing way to use social media to give back, this is a great example to show the impact that twitter can have.
Posted by: Team The Rise To The Top | September 21, 2009 at 11:01 PM
What a great event! Anything that helps provide the community necessary for folks to lose weight...that's a Very Good Thing indeed in my book.
Posted by: Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach | September 16, 2009 at 07:25 PM