Rising to the Challenge

At Seeq’s May 2019 All Company Meetup we kicked off a company-wide wellness initiative which included a presentation by the Blue Zones of Happiness project. The Blue Zones Life Challenge promotes research-based healthy habits to help increase health, vitality, and longevity. Because we want our employees to be as happy and healthy as possible, they were challenged to follow the program and keep a tally of adopted new Blue Zone habits. Criteria for winners were based on how many new habits our Seeqers self-reported during the Seeqer’s 4-Week Wellness Challenge.

The prize for winning was the opportunity to support Seeq’s community-oriented values and growing citizenship initiatives by allocating Seeq donation funds to the charitable organizations of their choice. These orgs fell within the classifications of Education, Environmental, Humanitarian, or Animal Services. As a result, Seeq donated a total of $5000 to the organizations designated by the 5 winners below:

First place: Corinne Ilvedson, $1500 donation to ArtSmart Trout Lake

Second Place: Tamara Miller, $1300 donation to the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

Third place: Dak Kanner, $1000 donation to the PD Rebel Project

Honorable mention (tie): Mike Daly, $600 donation to the ArtSmart Trout Lake

Honorable mention (tie): Stefanie Moses, $600 donation Windrush Farm

In the words of the winners:

First place winner and Trout Lake community member Corinne chose to help fund ArtSmart Trout Lake because “Many of the creative pursuits aren't funded in education and I feel that creativity is the most important skill for success in engineering. ArtSmart Trout Lake is new this year so I knew that the winnings could really help jump start the effort.”

Mike, who also chose to donate to ArtSmart Tout Lake, adds, “Trout Lake is a small community, with fewer sources of donations than charities in larger cities. So, the donation will have a big impact here, expanding the arts educational opportunities available in our community. It is also a newly-formed organization, so Seeq’s donation can help it establish a strong beginning!”

Tamara’s daughter interned with Maasai Wilderness Conservation Fund (MWCF) and “really got to know this community-based organization that is preserving the iconic land, wildlife, and culture of East Africa.” So, when she won second place in the challenge, Tamara elected to fund MWCF which “promotes land conservation, wildlife preservation, healthcare initiatives, education, and women's self-sustaining employment, all through the leadership and stewardship of the Maasai community.”

According to Dak, he chose the PD Rebel Project for his charitable third place winnings because his “uncle has been attending that Parkinson's group for about a year now. It seems to have really slowed down the progression and it helps him make friends, but it's potentially a cost that some folks would not be able to cover in addition to other medical expenses.” The habits Dak has strengthened over the course of the challenge include “less meat, more water, going outside more, flossing, trying to meet up with friends regularly.”

And lastly, anyone who knows Stefanie knows how passionate she is about her horses and the sport of Dressage. She directed her honorable mention funds toward Windrush Farm because “horses have made me who I am today. I wanted to help provide opportunities to others to include horses in their own lives.  While there are a number of therapeutic riding centers in the area, a good friend, who was recently certified as a therapeutic riding instructor, helped me pick out the one most deserving.”

Seeq is delighted to be supporting these worthy organizations through the enthusiasm of our employees! And just because the challenge is closed and prizes have been awarded doesn’t mean you can’t still participate – all the resources you need to try your own Blue Zones Life Challenge can be found on their web site.