Most of Lake County's 18 walking programs stepping off soon

Eighteen Lake County communities are planning their own versions of a community walking initiative that began two years ago with Go Gurnee.

While every town's program is different, the general goal is to encourage residents to walk 30 minutes every day in their neighborhood.

Two communities already have kicked off their Go campaigns. Go Waukegan, now in its second year, opened on April 7 at Roosevelt Park, and Go Lindenhurst, one of 15 communities doing a Go campaign for the first time, had its kickoff event on April 21 at Millennium Park.

Go Gurnee, the program that started it all in 2016, will begin its 2018 efforts at 4 p.m. Sunday in Viking Park, 4374 Old Grand Ave.

Other Go events are:

• Deerfield: 7:30 a.m. Sunday, May 6, at Jaycee Park, 1026 Wilmot Road.

• Grayslake: 11 a.m. Sunday, May 6, in Central Park, 250 Library Lane.

• Wildwood: 10 a.m. Saturday, May 12, at Willow Point Park, 33666 N. Cove Road.

• Lake Forest: 9 a.m. Saturday, May 19, at the downtown Metra Station, 691 N. Western Ave.

• Vernon Hills: 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, at Deerpath Park, 299 Onwentsia Road.

• Zion: 9 a.m. Saturday, June 9, at the Leisure Center, 2400 Dowie Memorial Drive.

• Mundelein: 8 a.m. Saturday, June 30, at Mundelein Park District, 1401 N. Midlothian Road.

• Launch events for campaigns in Antioch, Beach Park, Buffalo Grove, Lake Bluff, North Chicago, Wadsworth, Wauconda and Winthrop Harbor still are being developed.

Jon Ashworth, Lake County Health Department's health equity coordinator, said the agency is developing a website where residents can learn more about the Go campaign as a whole and find out how to get involved with their local efforts.