Maria Guenther has traveled to Guatemala, Mexico, Ireland, and New Orleans participating in more than 15 mission trips since she was a teenager. She grew up in Horicon and resides in Beaver Dam, where she works as a certified nursing assistant at Beaver Dam Community Hospitals, Inc. Home Health Care. She has strong roots in her local community but also treasures the connections she has made around the world.

It is her commitment to putting family first that has her taking a hiatus from travels abroad and instead focusing her volunteer efforts closer to home. Guenther lives with and cares for her 94-year-old grandma, mentors a group of local teenage girls, and is now a volunteer and ambassador for Blue Zones Project Dodge County.

Working at BDCH, Guenther was among the first to hear about Blue Zones Project. She is excited by the commitment her employer has made to improve the well-being of employees and the community at large. When Blue Zones Project held its community kickoff events in April, she seized the opportunity to get involved. She signed up to volunteer at the events and she appreciated that she could bring her Grandma Glennie along to help as well. My name is unique and Im an antique, Glennie said as she introduced herself to featured speaker Nick Buettner of Blue Zones. Glennie shared with him her own insights on how to live to be 100. Her advice: Keep breathing and keep your heart beating.

Buettner acknowledged Grandma Glennies insight during his presentation and shared the research that was done by his brother, Dan Buettner, and National Geographic Magazine in 2004 of places around the world where people are living longer with less chronic disease and greater vitality. People living in these areas share nine lifestyle habits the Power 9. Blue Zones Project encourages people to adopt practices incorporating the Power 9 into their own lives. To Maria, many of these principles resonate personally, including Family First, and are the reason she is excited to be involved in Blue Zones Project.

The parts about putting family first, belonging to a faith-based community, and having the right tribe are important to me, Maria said. I am a social person so I especially understand the importance of being connected.

Blue Zones Project has helped Maria to find her right tribe, a group of people that support one another in healthy lifestyle choices. Research shows that you are 150 percent more likely to engage in the activities that your friends engage in. Maria joined a Blue Zones Project Walking Moai, a group that commits to meeting at least once a week for 10 weeks to walk together. The group completed that commitment in early July but continues to meet because of the friendships they have formed.

Maria notes that walking with the group doesnt even feel like exercise. It is nice to know people are counting on you to be there and they explore areas of the community she has never been to before despite having lived here for five years.

The group not only walks together, but they share in other fun activities that are happening. They attend these activities knowing they will have at least one friend there to share in the experience. Several from their Moai attended the Blue Zones Project cooking demonstration at Beaver Dam Piggly Wiggly, and nearly half of their group attended a book discussion at the Beaver Dam Community Library, which included samples of recipes from the Blue Zones.

It is cool to see businesses across the community such as Piggly Wiggly and BDCH working together to help us be healthier, Maria said. As part of her calling to bring joy to others, volunteering with Blue Zones Project is a natural fit, allowing her to impact the well-being of people close to home.

Blue Zones Project Dodge County is a community-led well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through permanent changes to a citys environment, policy, and social networks. The project has been brought to Dodge County by Beaver Dam Community Hospitals. Blue Zones Project is a division of Sharecare. For more information, call 920-212-8511 or visit dodgecounty.bluezonesproject.com.

Read the original:
Volunteering around the world and close to home - WiscNews