The Oak Lawn Park District opened registration this month for its new community wellness campaign to get more residents to take steps — literally — toward better health.
Free to join, the GO OAK LAWN initiative invites participants to commit to a half hour daily walk or other physical activity, whether on their own or by taking part in free or low-cost park district activities and events throughout the year.
“We want to create a culture in our community that promotes physical movement,” park district Executive Director Maddie Kelly said. “GO OAK LAWN is designed to encourage everyone to make a commitment to themselves and get moving for at least 30 minutes each day.”
People can register at any park district facility, except Stony Creek, or on the park district’s website, olparks.com. A kickoff party is planned in May.
Park district recreation supervisors Mike Sinkewich and Debbie Scholl are charged with implementing the initiative. They respectively run programs at Oak View Center and the Community Pavilion fitness center.
“Research shows that people who use parks and open spaces are three times more likely to achieve the recommended levels of physical activity than nonusers,” Sinkewich said.
Sinkewich and Scholl were inspired to bring the program to Oak Lawn when they learned about it at the annual conference of the state association of park districts, which both attended in January 2018 in Chicago.
Representatives of the Gurnee Park District, the originator of the GO movement, discussed it during the “Get GOing” session they presented at the conference, Sinkewich said.
Oak Lawn is the first community in the south suburbs to adopt the program, he added.
“I thought it was an awesome idea that matched our mission perfectly,” Sinkewich said. “We have a lot of programs and events that already fit this movement.” He pointed to both the Summer Community Steps Challenge and StoryWalk as examples.
Participants in the steps challenge use an app on their phone or Fitbit to count their total steps from June through mid-September, Sinkewich said. “The goal is 10,000 steps a day, or 900,000 steps total.” Prizes won by past winners include gift cards, yoga mats or memberships at the pavilion’s fitness center.
The StoryWalk, held with the Oak Lawn Public Library each season, invites families to read pages of a children’s book at different stops during a walk around the pond at Lake Shore Park. An instructor leads children to make a craft based on the book or season as part of the event, Sinkewich said.
Scholl said new guided walks in parks or on trails will be added under the auspices of GO OAK LAWN.
“We know we’ve had success with our other walks and step challenges, so we know GO OAK LAWN will get the community out and moving around,” she said. “We’re considering a dog walk and glow walk, a nighttime walk in the Wolfe Wildlife Refuge, and a winter event with snowshoeing. We’re still deciding.
“The end goal is to bring in representatives of all the facilities to contribute ideas for activities to host at their sites.”
Sinkewich pointed to the health benefits envisioned by the initiative.
“Research shows that people who use parks and open spaces are three times more likely to achieve the recommended levels of physical activity than nonusers,” he said.
Just walking 30 minutes each day can help prevent and reduce the risk of chronic diseases, premature death and supports positive mental health, according to Denise Iwinski, the marketing and public relations supervisor for the park district.
Advocate Christ Medical Center sponsors the GO OAK LAWN program.
Iwinski and her colleagues met with hospital officials last November to get them on board. “We decided that Advocate is such a staple in our community that it would make the most sense to reach out to them,” Sinkewich said.
The hospital donated $10,000 as part of its two-year sponsorship agreement, “and will receive branding in the program,” Iwinski said. “We will collaborate with them and have them onsite with a booth at events, where people can get health information and education about the benefits of the movement.”
More than 100 people have already signed up since Feb. 3; the goal is 300, Sinkewich said.
Each registered participant will receive a free T-shirt and lunch at the kickoff party scheduled for May 16 at Memorial Park and the nearby clubhouse at Stony Creek golf course.
Jack Murray is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
