By Lezlee Gutierrez, Student Reporter
ACU is helping its faculty and staff keep their New Year’s resolutions this year by offering a day of health awareness.
The Abundant Life Program teamed up with various companies around Abilene on Monday to promote wellness on the campus. All ACU faculty and staff were invited to attend the Health Fair, which took place at the Teague Special Events Center, where local vendors offered giveaways and information to improve overall wellness.
Abundant Life and other vendors gave away prizes throughout the day, including free chair massages from Healthy Skin day spa, a drawing for an iPod for everyone scheduled for a wellness profile and an exercise and nutrition journal for the first 150 people who attended the health fair.
Vendors at the fair included Ever FIT, Premier Martial Arts, Curves, Hendrick Health Club, the Runners Club and others. Some of the vendors promoting nutritional fitness included Vitamins Plus, Juice Plus and Weight Watchers. Other companies promoting spiritual wellness included the Texas Family Institute Counseling Center, Leaf Wood Publishers and Abilene Educational Supply.
“The health fair was designed to expose faculty and staff to community resources,” said Bill Horn, director of graduate recruiting and Abundant Life team member. “Overall wellness is the key as we try to connect our faculty and staff to the broader community.”
The Abundant Life Program began six years ago and is offered to all faculty and staff as a fun and educational tool to help them improve their well-being. The theme this year is “Change is in the air.”
Those who participate in the program will be provided with monthly e-mail announcements of upcoming events. Participants also earn points by logging in activities they attend. These points are then recognized with a grand prize at each level of completion. Abundant Life also will be sponsoring family wellness events throughout the year to encourage participants to bring their families.
Holly Morris, chair of the Abundant Life Program, said, “We are very blessed to work for a university that is willing to invest in the wellness of their employees, so we can in turn invest more for Christ.”
Hendrick Health will be on campus all week to provide wellness profiles for ACU staff. For more information about the Abundant Life Program, visit www.acu.edu/campusoffices/hr/benefits/abundantlife/index.html.
