Yonkers On the Move, the active lifestyle walking campaign, will celebrate eight-plus years in early December. Invitations are going out to those who successfully participated and contributed short- and long-term to the YOM program.
The origins of YOM can be traced to 55 Plus Yonkers, which was created in 2001 to serve older adults and other community stakeholders. The Community Planning Council Yonkers in collaboration with Yonkers Community Health Coalition, Healthy Yonkers Initiative and St. Joseph’s Hospital provided administrative support, with the Benedict Foundation supplying a significant part of funding.
The 55Plus spearheaded a number of community-related events, including Senior Health and Fitness Day in partnership with the Yonkers Office for the Aging and Department of Parks and Recreation. Circa 2008-09, three forces came into play: The 55 Plus Board explored intergenerational initiatives, and the 2008 NIH Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans was released; along with the guidelines, several webinars cited examples of ongoing county- and city-based fitness programs, with most centered on the benefits of walking.
In 2009, 55 Plus formed a group that participated in the President’s Council on Physical Fitness Challenge. It called for a commitment of six weeks of 30 minutes of activity five days per week, with award certificates presented at special events.
In 2010, a Befit55 subcommittee morphed into Yonkers On the Move. The founding YOM committee consisted of Sandy Amoyaw, Linda Bohan, Rosemarie and Henry Doerr, Cathy Elser, Brunilda Fernandez, Carl Gessman, Kirsten Hashim, Ginger Keys, Jane Metzger and Susan Thaler. They created an annual free campaign and a WALK 20 Challenge to promote fitness via walking.
The campaign initiative includes a season opening kickoff walk, originally held at Tibbetts Brook Park. Now, through the hospitality of Yonkers City Hall and the mayor, YOM holds an April walk starting from City Hall Plaza and going to the Riverfront Public Library and back.
Subsequently, a number of themed walks and the WALK 20 Challenge encouraged participants to set step/mile goals and report the results to YOM. Successful participants receive invitations to three recognition events during the YOM April through October walk season.
For more information on Yonkers On the Move or to sign up for the free program, go to www.walkyom.org.
