…started a monthly farmers market that has developed into a mobile market, thanks to a local farm.
This is done by providing information to the members, providing challenges to participate in, such as recording steps taken, and encouraging members to make healthy sacrifices each week, like giving up soft drinks. The church provides support for the members with information, recipes, calendars and ways to track progress.
Activities highlighted during the last 100-day program included walks with the pastor, yoga, Zuma and a weekly church walk on the Swamp Rabbit; health information provided ran the gamut from diabetes and breast cancer awareness to child safety and prostate health.
But Dogan concedes that sometimes, its hard to keep everybody motivated. Faced with money and housing woes, says Connie Burgess, many still found that “their food was their comfort.” It didn’t help, says Connie Terrell, that “there’s a McDonald’s on every corner, and no grocery store, and some people don’t have cars.” But many found their way around the roadblocks. Burgess changed her cooking habits. “I didn’t tell my husband,” she confesses. Linda Nance adds, “I told my husband if he doesn’t eat what I cook, he doesn’t eat.” All the women laugh.
The difference for many was life-changing. “At one time I couldn’t walk or use my hands,” Burgess says. “Our pastor taught us there was more to life than the way we had been living.”
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