Online Friends Make a Difference

 

Article By: Therese Droste and Diana Kelly   Print   Email

 

Members of an online message board needed a reason to move. Now they've raised thousands for the fight against breast cancer. When Michele Lawless hit a weight-loss plateau in 2004, she turned to her buddies on the Message Boards who were facing the same problem. The online group resisted the idea of taking up running until someone suggested that they run for something, such as raising money to battle breast cancer. Read the article below

Lawless and eight other WeightWatchers.com General Daily Thread (GDT) members trained for and completed the Boston Komen Race for the Cure, one of more than a hundred 5K (3.1-mile) walk-run events held each year across the United States to raise money for breast cancer treatment and research. Training for the event pushed the members past their weight-loss plateaus—and much further.

"What began as a community of women interacting online about weight and health issues has grown into a true network of friends," says Lawless, 43, of Portland, Maine.

Support for Beginners
The spirit of the group attracted others on the GDT board. Julie Phillips, 29, from Weymouth, Mass., saw the online postings and joined in. "I always wanted to run, and the Komen race gave me a great goal and raised over $87,000 this year for the Komen Foundation."

The online group supports new and old members as they begin to walk and jog in preparation for upcoming Komen events. "The board members would really cheer me on as I prepared, and we relied on one another leading up to the race for support," says Phillips, who has maintained her 62-pound weight loss for more than two years. "Someone on the GDT board always seemed to have a running tip or a helpful way to deal with aches and pains. It kept me going as I trained." WeightWatchers.com has a 12-week training article that can also prepare you for your first race.

"Every year the number of runners increases. People who walked two years ago are running the race now, and other participants promise to run it next year," says Phillips.

Raising the Dough
This year, Team GDT launched a Web site, www.teamgdt.com/team, from which they sold more than 500 copies of the Team GDT cookbook, Eat for the Cure, and auctioned off handmade jewelry, quilts, crafts, homemade sauces and jams, and products donated from various companies. The cookbook was a creative effort from the whole team and includes recipes contributed by Community users from the Message Boards who weren't even part of Team GDT. The cookbook will continue to be available on Team GDT's site throughout the year with proceeds going directly to the Komen Foundation.

A Chance to Help One of Their Own
The WeightWatchers.com GDT group took on new meaning when a member was diagnosed with breast cancer over two years ago. "When one of our own was facing the fight, it drove us together as friends who not only shared the weight-loss experience together, but also cared about each other's lives," says Lawless. A week after her chemotherapy ended, the member walked with the group in a Race for the Cure. Lawless' twin aunts, currently in remission, continue to be involved; this year, one her aunts volunteered at the race.

Joyous Events
Many in Team GDT are meeting face-to-face for the first time during their race weekend. "You've talked to these people online for months and really feel like you know them well, even though you haven't even seen them," says Phillips. To lessen the confusion when meeting in person, everyone wears a button listing both their screen and real names. Everyone stays at the same hotel in Boston and spends the weekend shopping, lounging and getting to know one another.

The Talbots flagship store in Boston hosted a special event the Saturday night before the race to honor last year's Team GDT participants for being the top earning non-corporate fundraising team in the 2006 race. The store recognized the participants' achievements with prizes and coupons and let them enjoy a private shopping experience with Talbots fashion consultants.

Not only is this group successful at fund-raising, they're winning the game of weight loss as well! Lawless has lost 38 pounds and has 27 more to go. Now, she doesn't worry about weight-loss plateaus or motivation. "There is nothing like the feeling of running across the finish line with teammates, holding hands and knowing you are running towards one minute, or hour or day of helping someone become healthy," says Lawless. "To run embodies freedom and health."