By Sandy Anderson

Mower Refreshed coordinator

Where we live, work, learn and play has great influence on our health — the health of our bodies, minds and communities.

Mower Refreshed is a groundswell movement that supports and ignites efforts that promote wellness in our county. Individuals, school districts (students and staff), businesses (employers and employees) and organizations across Mower County are building collaborations that share resources, energy, and inspiration on how to sensibly and sustainably make healthier choices easier in Mower County.

Choice is an important word. Mower Refreshed isn’t about taking choices away — it’s about assuring that in our county, healthy options are easily available and affordable for every citizen.

Mower Refreshed is focused on four areas that have been identified by fieldwork and research specific to our county: healthier choices, mental fitness, workforce wellness, and community connections. These four citizen-led groups meet monthly to network and build collaborations that are built on our county’s strengths.

Each goal group has specific efforts they are supporting and growing. Some of the efforts are effective programs that are already in place that promote healthy living (e.g. United Way of Mower County’s 2-1-1, Hy-Vee’s Sprouts Children’s’ Garden, Healthy Habits Program by Austin Bruins) and some of the efforts are grown from citizen ideas to impact daily living in our county, improve health of our citizens and make healthy living easier and more fun (e.g. Wellness Wednesday, Refreshed Dining Project, TAKE 5, Refreshed Business of the Year, Refreshed Wellness Profile).

In the coming months you’ll hear from a variety of folks who are partnering with Mower Refreshed. They will share how we are positioned to make history and improve our county’s health as we develop a template to show the value of an old-school approach:

1. Focus on what is already working: effective programs that citizens and organizations in our county are already doing to promote well living and joining those efforts

2. Listening to citizen ideas and asking important questions like “Is that idea sustainable?” “Can we duplicate that idea?” “Is it sensible for Mower County?”

Enjoy learning what simple steps your neighbors and co-workers are doing to make healthy choices easier. We hope that you will be inspired to engage and share how you are making wellness a priority where you live, work, learn and play!