FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bert Copple
248-904-8455
LOCAL HOMECARE COMPANY EMPLOYEES SAY “NO MORE EXCUSES FOR BEING OVERWEIGHT”: FUNDRAISER SUPPORTS THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
Office staff and caregivers from the Home Instead Senior Care franchise office in Birmingham, Michigan are losing the weight in 2008. Empowered by an internal support group with weekly weigh-ins, the staff of Home Instead have been gathering pledges-per-pound in an effort to raise funds for the American Heart Association.
“This all came about one day when I found myself sitting on the couch watching the television program The Biggest Loser with my wife. While the contestants were working out and eating healthy food, I was munching on a can of Pringles with my legs elevated,” says Bert Copple, a Community Service Representative with Home Instead. “I remember looking at my wife and thinking, I need to do something about my weight. This just seemed like the perfect idea.”
Employees attended their first support group meeting this morning where they discussed goals, addressed past diet failures and successes, and then weighed-in.
“I’ll be honest. I’m not proud of my weight by any means,” said Copple who topped the scales at just over 303 pounds. “But I’m putting it all on the line because I need to make improvements in my health.”
Copple, who has so far collected $10.00 in pledges-per-pounds, hopes to hit his weight loss goal of 40 pounds during the 26 week program. If he is successful, he’ll be healthier, and he’ll have raised $400.00 for the American Heart Association.
Copple will also be blogging his efforts throughout the 26-week program at www.losetheweightmichigan.wordpress.com where the general public can follow his efforts, frustrations, and successes.
“I wanted to do this with my place of employment because today’s caregivers are seeing stressors like never before. The Sandwich Generation is forced to care for their kids as well as their aging parents, and all along they are pouring out so much of themselves into others that they often neglect themselves. If caregivers would put themselves first, in terms of their health, they would, in fact, be better caregivers.”
A study by the National Family Caregivers Association found that caregivers have a 50% greater risk of suffering from sickness and disease due to the stress placed on their immune systems from the vocation of caregiving.
“I wanted our caregivers to know that doing something as simple as losing a little bit of weight can make a world of difference in their health.”
To learn more about Home Instead’s Lose the Weight in 2008 program, contact Bert Copple by calling 248-203-2273.
**Editor’s Note: To arrange for an interview or photo-op of Bert working out, call his cell phone at 248-904-8455.
