Two Twin Transit mechanics show of their step trackers on Monday
As restrictions in Lewis County continue to be lifted, residents can begin going back outside and continue to shake off the rust brought on by the shutdowns.
Twin Transit is looking to give people a roadmap for doing so with an effort of its own.
Andrea Culletto, the community relations director at Twin Transit, said the company launched its Walk, Run and Ride campaign about two weeks ago, encouraging company employees to get active. She said two teams were selected at random and employees have embraced the new challenge.
“Everyone’s really excited about it,” Culletto said. “There’s been a lot of friendly banter and a little bit of friendly trash talk to see which team is going to come out ahead, you know. It’s been fun, it’s given everyone something new and exciting to look forward to.”
While detailing why the campaign was ultimately created, Culletto pointed to a study conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago in which 2,279 adults were asked between May 21 and 29 whether they felt they were very happy, pretty happy or not too happy.
According to the study, 23 percent of people said they were not too happy — a 10 percent increase from when the study was conducted in 2018 and the highest percentage produced by the survey since 1972.
“I think that’s really key,” Culletto said. “Now’s the time to look forward, to get out, get moving, enjoy our community, enjoy the weather and to just kind of leave the last couple of months behind.”
Culletto said a portion of the effort will also center around a social media campaign, to give the public some inspiration for getting outside and getting active.
She said one strategy she wanted to see people try was finding a new way to get to as many of the places they would normally commute as possible. Whether that be walking, running, or however else someone sees fit.
“Instead of driving down the street to the grocery store, can you walk it?” Culletto said. “Could you walk to work, could you bike to work, how can we incorporate more physical movement into our daily lives, because there’s just so many benefits to it.”
From Culletto’s perspective, placing more of an emphasis on getting outside and getting active is an essential aspect of working back from the statewide shutdowns, regardless of age.
“I think everyone has experienced much more stress than they used to on a daily basis,” Culletto said. “This is a great way to just shake that off and to go have some fun.”
As of now, Culletto said she doesn’t know of any other local organization adopting a similar campaign to the one Twin Transit is putting on, although she encourages other businesses to host other fitness-based initiatives of their own.
When it comes to the overarching goal of this campaign, Culletto described various aspirations, including engaging the public, assisting employees at Twin Transit and even providing a road map for other companies looking to undertake a similar project.
“The ultimate goal is to uplift our community, get everybody moving and get everyone feeling better,” Culletto said. “There’s just so many benefits and I think the more that we encourage this in our community, the more we’ll see those benefits.”
