It's Time Texas, a statewide grass-roots cause promoting healthy lifestyles, is encouraging communities throughout Texas to join in a friendly competition to see who is the most dedicated to healthy living.
The Healthy at H-E-B Community Challenge, which runs until Oct. 31, seeks to motivate individuals and organizations to make healthy living the norm in Texas. Although the competition has already started, an individual or community can enter the fray at any point.
Cities compete against each other by earning points for a variety of activities. For a community to be eligible to win, its mayor must first sign a pledge to support healthy living. As of Sept. 24, a total of 29 mayors have signed up, including those in Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto.
"Pflugerville was thrilled to win the first-ever challenge in 2012," Pflugerville Mayor Jeff Coleman said. "With our more than 32 miles of trails, Lake Pflugerville, recreation programs and active community, we're encouraging everyone to be Pflugerville 'pfit.'"
The competition is designed to spotlight communities that are dedicated to healthy living and to incentivize others to make healthy living a priority, said John Waterman, marketing and communications director with Active Life, the Austin-based nonprofit behind It's Time Texas.
Mayors earn points by making a video to challenge another mayor or by implementing health initiatives for their own community. Schools earn points when teachers upload photos and videos of students participating in healthy activities or organize community projects such as playground cleanups or group walks. Businesses and organization leaders sign pledges to support the health of their employees and can also take on community projects.
"The idea is to spotlight health and reward [healthy behavior]," Waterman said.
Individuals can earn points by uploading photos and videos of themselves exercising or eating healthy or by hosting neighborhood events focused on healthy activity. So far, more than 211,000 individuals have actively participated this year.
"The intent is to touch on all main aspects of a community," Waterman said.
The competition breaks communities down into five size categories. Every city in Texas has been preregistered by the event's organizers into the appropriate category. A winner will be selected for each size group by the end of the competition.
Winners receive statewide recognition, a trophy, street banners and a $1,000 grant to support a health project at a local school.
View more details about the competition—including a list of communities for each size category and how individuals can get involved—by visiting www.hebcommunitychallenge.com.