We are all about health and wellness here, so Good Measure Meals and Open Hand staff took the opportunity to participate in Make a Movement Day! A Texas nonprofit created the day-long initiative encouraging the public to create and share their “Moments” of physical activity (Move), healthy eating (Fuel), and personal and environmental health (Honor) to promote healthy, ACTIVE lifestyles.

Open Hand and Good Measure Meals™   jumped on board and participated by creating a “moment” of our very own! Last Wednesday, we all met during our lunch break for a “walk-around-the-block” and some healthy snacks provided by our staff!

We departed from the Armour Building at 12:15pm and complete the 1 mile loop around Armour/Ottley and then all gathered to enjoy some healthy snacks in the Armour Break Room. 

I really think that everyone saw the beneficial effects of getting outside for some fresh air and movement during the afternoon. I know I personally felt happier, more focused and productive during the late afternoon when I normally lack energy. The weather was beautiful and we all got the opportunity to enjoy the company of each other. It shouldn’t take a special day like this to get us moving, but sometimes it helps!

For more motivation check out these great articles from The Mayo Clinic:

• Office exercise: How to burn calories at work
• Walking for fitness: How to trim your waistline, improve your health 
• How to start a walking group

As a result of Make a Movement Day our staff has committed to a “walk-around-the-block” as a group every Wednesday at 10am. How are you going to get active today? Share your stories by leaving a comment.

On April 21st, Open Hand held a fundraiser called Dining Out for Life. Over 100 restaurants all over the Atlanta area donated 20% of all receipts to Open Hand!! It is Open Hand’s largest annual fundraiser, and helps Open Hand continue to provide freshly prepared, home-delivered meals, nutrition education, coaching and counseling to homebound seniors and individuals who are struggling with chronic, critical or terminal disease in 17 Georgia counties.

Jess Parsons and I were hosts at West Egg Cafe. We asked our guests – “What Motivated you to come to Dining Out for Life?” These are their responses.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Dining out for Life. Share your experiences and let us know, “What Motivated YOU to Dine Out for Life?”

This Wednesday, April 21st is a big day for Open Hand. Over 100 restaurants all over the Atlanta area will be donating 20% of your bill to Open Hand!! The fundraiser is called Dining Out for Life. It is Open Hand’s largest annual fundraiser, and helps Open Hand continue to provide freshly prepared, home-delivered meals, nutrition education, coaching and counseling to homebound seniors and individuals who are struggling with chronic, critical or terminal disease in 17 Georgia counties.

I will be hosting at West Egg Cafe along with Good Measure Meals Corporate Wellness Representative, Jess Parsons. Jess and I had the opportunity to interview Jennifer Johnson, who owns West Egg along with her husband Ben Johnson. Check us out in the video above to get a preview of what this amazing restaurant is all about and also to learn about their new dinner menu.

Jess and I will be at West Egg Cafe on Howell Mill Road in Midtown from 6pm-10pm. Come out to meet us and eat amazing food – all for a good cause.

For a list of all the participating restaurants visit – http://diningoutforoh.org

Thank you for your support.

I hope to meet you this Wednesday at West Egg Cafe!

My friends, Martha and Jeff, asked me several weeks ago if I wanted to do some volunteer work on Christmas. I said sure! We checked out a few different organizations and then it dawned on me… duh! We should deliver meals for Open Hand. I have done many Open Hand routes in the past. Delivering these meals is a very heartwarming experience. Getting that one-on-one contact with the clients is great and you really start to see how much they appreciate the food and service.

So you might be wondering, what is Open Hand? Good question! Here is a little background on how Open Hand and Good Measure Meals work together as a social entrepreneurship:

“In 2004 Good Measure Meals™ was launched by Atlanta nonprofit Open Hand. Good Measure Meals™ is part of a growing trend in the nonprofit world called social entrepreneurship. While GMM is a separate business unit, all profits generated by GMM go to support the work that Open hand does in the community: “helping people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care™, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed food choices and improved quality of life.” For more information about our parent organization, please visit the Open Hand website at www.projectopenhand.org.”

We had great fun out there today. It was extra special because it is Christmas Eve.

This is me holding one of the bags full of meals. Each client on our route got one of these bags. It contains a complete lunch and dinner for two days.

This is Martha and I outside of one of the stops. Martha was the navigator. She is holding the very important route sheet that contains detailed instructions on where to go and what to do.

This is Jeff holding one of the bags as we are waiting for the client to come to the door.

This is Jeff and I outside another stop. This seemed to be some kind of nursing home.

One of the clients had a cooler outside for the meal to be placed in when they aren't home.

We met a really nice couple at the last stop. They quickly invited us inside to chat. Lucky for us they agreed to have their picture taken.

This is Ted and Caroline. Such a sweet couple! We really enjoyed visiting with them.

AND they even gave us a little gift… peanut brittle! It was so good. We enjoyed it on the drive home.

Thank you Ted and Caroline! We loved the peanut brittle!

I will be on vacation next week so my next post will be in the new year.

Happy holidays to you all! I hope that you have a safe and merry holiday!