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Through diet and exercise, Diana Page-Capone, of BWH Radiology, has successfully lost unwanted weight over the last two years. To sustain her weight loss and continue feeling her best, she began climbing 30 flights of stairs twice a week with ClimbCorps during her lunch break.
“ClimbCorps makes me feel great during the day because I’m doing something good for my health,” Page-Capone told BWHers gathered at a December kickoff event for ClimbCorps’ first fundraiser, ClimbAmerica! Page-Capone will join other BWHers to raise awareness of heart disease at ClimbAmerica! later this month.
ClimbCorps, the nation’s first service corps dedicated to health and wellness, was launched by BWH’s Cardiovascular Wellness Service last September to promote taking the stairs as a simple way to stay active. Twenty corps members are stationed in 10 of Boston’s iconic buildings, including the Prudential Center, One Post Office Square and BWH. Corps members organize and lead group stair climbs and educate the public about health and wellness.
Anyone can participate in ClimbCorps’ upcoming ClimbAmerica! fundraising event, taking place on Jan. 26, at 100 Summer St. in Boston, and Jan. 27, at the Prudential Tower at 800 Boylston St. Participants will take part in a friendly stair climb race and pledge to raise money for the cause, though there is no minimum fundraising amount required.
Registration for ClimbAmerica! is free and takes only a few minutes.
“No team is too big, so we encourage you to get together as many family and friends as possible to support this cause,” said JoAnne Foody, MD, medical director of the Cardiovascular Wellness Service.
Other speakers at the kickoff event included BWH ClimbCorps members who shared their personal stories of how ClimbCorps has changed the way they exercise, as well as a BWH patient.
“ClimbAmerica! is a simple way to decrease your risk for cardiovascular disease and help support those around us with cardiac risk factors,” said BWH patient Sarah Dobrowolski, who was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, which causes periodic episodes of rapid heart rate, at age 19. Another participant, Teshina Sumner of Orthopedics, encouraged BWHers not only to take part in ClimbCorps, but to bring their energy to the ClimbAmerica! event.
“I’ll be there with my sneakers on, ready to go,” said Sumner. “I invite you to join me. Let’s do something great for our health.”
For more information or to register for ClimbAmerica!, visit www.climbamerica.org.