do.town Invites Residents to Make a Commitment

Editor's Note: The following is a do.town press release.

During the past 16 months, the do.town cities of Bloomington, Edina and Richfield have been taking steps to make their communities healthier places to live, work and play. Now, do.town is inviting residents to help grow and continue this important movement. Launched today, Invitation to do. encourages individuals to make a public commitment to improve health where it starts – in their homes and communities.

Bloomington, Edina and Richfield residents should visit do-town.org/commitments to register. They’ll find a list of ideas – such as shopping regularly at local farmers markets, walking more frequently in their neighborhood or becoming a community advocate – or they can create their own activity to do.  

To help encourage participation, the mayors of Bloomington, Edina and Richfield have invited residents to join them in their own commitments to do.:

• Mayor Gene Winstead of Bloomington will eat more fruits and vegetables as well as shop at the farmers market.
• Mayor Jim Hovland of Edina will host a monthly “Walk with the Mayor” that will give him an opportunity to get to know residents and be physically active. “Walk with the Mayor” will take place on the third Saturday of the month at 9 a.m., all year long. It will be a different route each month and walks may be indoors or outdoors, depending on seasons. 
• Mayor Debbie Goettel of Richfield will walk more by turning her office hours, which are held at the farmers market at Veteran’s Park during the summer months, into walking meetings around the lake. Additionally, Mayor Goettel commits to coordinating a community biking event throughout the city.

“One of the goals of do.town is to help residents recognize that they can create healthy changes in their neighborhoods, workplace and schools, as well as in their own lives,” said Katherine Bass, do.town project manager for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. “While making an individual commitment may seem like a small step, it’s the collective impact of neighbors coming together, and doing so in a public way, that makes this initiative so powerful.”

Invitation to do. will run through the end of March.  Visit do-town.org/commitments to make a pledge or get inspiration from others’ individual commitments.