Western Wisconsin Health held the Dash to Disney finale event on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 to finish their third family-friendly community walking challenge and awarded another lucky participant a trip to Disney World. We initially registered 588 participants. A total of 471 participants completed the challenge – even more than last year! The previous year’s winner also attended the event to share her experience and help present the grand prize alongside the Storybook Princess and her Beast Prince from Occasions with Character. Suzanne Wynveen Photography attended as well to capture some very special moments with her beautiful photography.

Prize winners included:

• Grand Prize Trip to Disney – Toby Hable
• Mall of America Prize Package with Hotel Stay and Wristbands (Donated by Thunder Country/Zoe Communications) – Shawn Miller
• $350 Suzanne Wynveen Photography Package (Donated by WWH) – Tim Haugen
• SCEC Prize Package (Donated by SCEC First Call Medical Monitoring) – Alexis Bien
• Fitness Center Gift Certificate and Swag Bag (Donated by WWH) – Barry Wentlandt
• Integrative Health Gift Certificate and Swag Bag (Donated by WWH) – Julie Van Someren

Participants of the Dash to Disney challenge worked together to achieve one goal: walking to Disney World! Throughout the challenge, participants (ages 5 and up) virtually stepped to see how many times the group could travel to Walt Disney World. McKayla Custer, a personal trainer at WW Health, tracked the progress along the way and provided location updates, healthy recipes, motivation, and health and fitness tips. A Facebook group was also created for members to share their experiences and encourage one another. Total, participants accumulated 259,539,543 steps during the 8-week challenge. This is a total of 42 round trips to Disney World!

The corporate challenge also returned this year. Participants continued to track their steps as individuals each week and WWH kept track of the average weekly steps per business. Each company was also encouraged to create their own internal challenge to motivate their employees. The company with the most cumulative steps average over the 8 weeks received a plaque to display at their business. Participants included Western Wisconsin Health, St. Croix Electric Cooperative, Baldwin-Woodville School District, First Bank of Baldwin, Travel Leaders, and Village Pharmacy. The winner of the corporate wellness challenge was First Bank of Baldwin with 6 members and 80,978 average weekly steps.

“We continue to be grateful for the amount of participation and enthusiasm displayed by community members and families throughout this challenge,” said Natasha Ward, Director of Community Health Improvement. “Be sure to stay tuned as we are looking at exciting ways to change up the challenge next year!”

Western Wisconsin Health would like to thank their amazing and generous sponsors – this event would not be possible without their support!

“Magic Kingdom” Co-Presenter: Associated Eye Care

“To Infinity & Beyond” Sponsors: Bridge Investment Group, SCEC First Call Medical Monitoring, Thunder Country and Travel Leaders

“Tale as old as Time” Sponsors: Baldwin Bulletin, Helmer Printing, Suzanne Wynveen Photography and Village Pharmacy

“Hakuna Matata” Sponsors: Justin Nygaard Agency – American Family Insurance, Baldwin Perk, Black Hawk Garage Door, Bremer Bank, First Bank of Baldwin, Homestead Veterinarian, Nilssen’s Foods and Rooted Faith Fitness

For more information about wellness opportunities at WW Health, please visit wwhealth.org.