Since 2015 Wilcox Wellness & Fitness has been raising money in the fight against food insecurity through our annual event Burpees for Turkeys.  This event began in Bangor after Mike & Paige Wilcox, founders of Wilcox Wellness & Fitness, learned about the devastating statistics around childhood hunger across Maine and wanted to help make an impact upon this serious problem. ​

At its root, hunger is an income problem. Many people are hungry because they get sick or injured, a spouse or parent dies, or they lose their job or are unable to work. Unfortunately, these bad breaks happen all the time, forcing people to make painful choices like whether to buy food to eat or pay their rent or other living expenses*.

What’s worse is that more than 70,000 children in Maine are living with food insecurity, meaning they don’t always know where their next meal will come from, or if it will be enough. That means 1 out of every 5 Maine kids struggles with hunger – the highest child hunger rate in all of New England*.

The research is clear.  Children living in food insecure homes are less able to learn than their well-fed peers, are absent from school more frequently, have more behavioral problems in the classroom, and are more prone to health issues*.

These statistics overwhelm my heart, and I'm honored to have this opportunity to truly make an impact each year through Burpees for Turkeys.  ​

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Good Shepherd does amazing work across Maine to fight this serious problem.  Their goal is to ensure that all those struggling with hunger will have access to the nutritious food they need to thrive, when and where they need it by 2025!  To achieve this they have set a bold goal to raise $250M in an unprecedented statewide campaign by raising $150M in large scale food donations from food retailers, manufacturers, producers and Maine Farmers, and another $100M through private donations like those contributed through this event!*

​We are so proud to support the mission of the Good Shepherd Food Bank through this event each year and are thrilled to be contributing $5445 this year in Brunswick alone!  The Bangor location will be hosting their Burpees for Turkeys event on December 11th adding to this remarkable 2021 total.

A special thank you to our business sponsors, Crooker Construction, Akari Salon & R.E. Management each of whom helped in our fundraising total with a $500 donation.

References:  *Good Shepherd Food Bank Statistics: ​https://www.gsfb.org/

It’s that time again when we get to celebrate the client of the month, and this month I am so happy to be celebrating Rachel Garland. 

Rachel joined us in January 2020 with the goal of feeling good, having more energy and being stronger, and there is no doubt that Rachel has achieved each of those goals.

Getting started in a gym can be incredibly intimidating, and Rachel was feeling that too, but she had support behind the scenes who provided her with the encouragement to get started.  For that I couldn’t be more grateful, because it’s through this support that Rachel found the confidence deep down to show up on that very first day.
 
Rachel committed to herself right from the beginning.  She relied upon support inside and outside of the gym when her anxiety got the best of her and she kept on showing up for herself.  As we got to know each other and Rachel’s confidence grew, the insecurities began to fade away, and Rachel’s time at the gym became her time.  Time that she truly valued.
 
In March of 2020 we all know what happened.  The pandemic hit.  Rachel is a teacher, and one other thing that we all know is that teachers had to pivot harder than almost anyone.  To be honest, even as a brand-new business realizing that I needed to find my way through a pandemic I felt for teachers (and healthcare workers) more than anyone.  I had it easy in comparison.  Teachers had to figure out how to teach remotely, which in itself was something completely new for teachers to figure out, but they also were faced with the worry for some of those kiddos who they knew didn’t have the best of circumstances at home.  The start of the pandemic was a tough time for families, and teachers were more aware than anyone about the struggles that some of their students were going to face by not coming to school each day.
 
Rachel never used this as an excuse.  It wasn’t an excuse to stop showing up for her students, and it wasn’t an excuse to stop showing up for herself either.  One day Rachel called me.  She was feeling a little stressed about making time for getting to the gym.  At first, I thought she was worried about finding the time with everything that was going on, but the real stress was coming from her guilt in cancelling and rescheduling her sessions as she tried to figure out how to fit it into her schedule.  In true Rachel fashion she was worried about the impact that this was having on me and my trainer team.  I reminded Rachel that we create our scheduling process with a purpose.  We allow our clients to cancel and reschedule with just one hour notice knowing that life often doesn’t work out the way we planned when we woke up that morning, and in the case of this pandemic, what we had planned could change hour to hour, and that’s okay.  What matters is that you keep working on figuring it out and prioritizing what is most important.  And that’s exactly what Rachel was doing.  I assured her that she can and should reschedule as many times as she needed to until she figured out how to get to her training sessions for the week.  With that reassurance Rachel leveled up even more.  Some days she would email letting me know that she may be a few minutes late, but she was on her way, and each and every time she showed up.  Period. 
 
Rachel’s progress at the gym hasn’t just been about physical results.  It has also been about mental results.   Rachel’s biggest accomplishment has been all about breaking through her own insecurities and anxieties about working out.  As a result, her self-confidence has grown immensely, as well as her ability to advocate for herself.  She has made herself a priority and that has been huge!!!