Spirits all over the Wawa community are still flying high from our first ever Fit to Fly Family barbeque, the launch event of our new Wawa Wellness Journey.  In fact, my spirits have yet to leave the clouds.  We launched our journey this past Wednesday at our Wawa Beverage Center where hundreds of Wawa Associates and their families joined us to celebrate our commitment to health and wellness. 

There was truly something for everyone’s tastes and fancy, and we invited each and every associate and their family members to sample tasty and healthy snacks from our barbeque and visit more than 20 health and personal wealth stations to learn about everything from diet and nutrition to financial management and tobacco cessation.  Associates relaxed with chair massages and kids exerted endless energy in our moon bounce, slide and games – all of which focused on promoting physical activity.  We even had a dunk tank, which I happily jumped in to benefit our internal Associates in Need Fund.

I’m thrilled that everyone left our Fit to Fly Barbeque rejuvenated and excited about leading a healthier future.  At Wawa, we are renewing our commitment to wellness by helping our associates form healthier lifestyles by embracing both wellness and fitness.  This commitment is rooted in our Wawa values – particularly our commitment to Value People.  Our brand new Fit to Fly Wellness Journey enables us to focus on our associates in a way that no other program or initiative can.  We’re taking a more holistic approach that enables us to focus on every part of what keeps our associates mentally and physically healthy, from their diet to financial wealth! 

Many of our associates already are Fit to Fly champions and we hope that every Wawa associate will join the fun! 

From watching our Fit to Fly associates, I’ve noticed that there’s one common thread connecting all of them – they’re all passionate about living the healthiest lifestyle possible and they’re inspired to lift and guide others to do the same. 

Watching these eager-to-learn associates lead and participate with gusto and then share their new knowledge with their families greatly inspires me.  I hope to follow their lead to engage the entire Wawa family in wellness-related activities. 

So with our kick-off event complete, I’m happy to report that we are off to a great start!   Our family barbeque was just the beginning of a fun-packed journey to boost our associates to a whole new level in their personal wellness journey.  Already, we have started to roll-out a program called Cardio-Kinetics, a series of bio-metric measures that help you know the state of your health and learn of potential problems.  Our goal is to extend this program to every region in our company and we’re more than half way there!

This journey is one very close to my heart, no pun intended, and I’m committed to honking from behind – in encouragement of our associates – as they begin to take steps to ensure that they are fit to fly.  I know we will all gain greater speed and distance travelling together than if we flew alone.

‘Till next time…