Health break for wishes
<p>COGO Capital employees raised $1,240 for Make-A-Wish Idaho by walking 124 miles throughout March. Pictured from left: CEO Lee Arnold, production director Carie Stryka, Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Jill Marfice and COGO event coordinator Kimberley Marlatt. Secured Investment and COGO are challenging businesses to see who can raise the most money for Make-A-Wish by walking.</p>
A Coeur d’Alene business is trying something new to encourage its employees to be healthier and raise money for a good cause.
Secured Investment Corp. is donating $10 to Make-A-Wish Idaho for every mile one of its employees walks while at work. Throughout March, April and May, there are three opportunities each week where people can get out for a walk while on the clock. On Monday, COGO Capital, a subsidiary of Secured Investment, donated $1,240 it raised in March to Make-A-Wish Idaho, a nonprofit that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.
“We decided to get healthy in our office,” said Kimberly Marlatt, event coordinator for Secured Investment. “I think people were feeling kind of sluggish. This is incentive to get people up and moving.”
Secured Investment wanted to get healthy, so it got rid of the candy in the office and replaced it with fruits and vegetables for people to snack on. It encourages its employees to go for walks with people from different departments to bring the office closer together.
The company’s staff walked 124 miles in March. The goal is to walk and raise as much money, if not more, in April.
“We work with companies on a variety of levels,” said Helene Peterson, development manager for Make-A-Wish Idaho. “This is a very effective way in which this company has contributed to Make-A-Wish and we couldn’t be more thrilled that they’re thinking about us in their endeavors.”
SIC will continue its walks for its “get fit, get healthy” efforts through May.
“It’s great because when you need a little break you can get fresh air. It only takes 15 minutes,” Marlatt said. “I think it’s really helped our morale.”