West Chicago wins 'Move With Mayor' challenge

West Chicago has won the National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention's "Move with the Mayor Challenge" for the second year in a row.

The challenge is an annual series of walks staged during September and leading up to World Heart Day on Sept. 29. The program's goal is to save lives by getting people on the road to a healthier heart through moderate, regular exercise.

This year, West Chicago outwalked other participating cities that included Columbia, South Carolina; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Indianapolis; Oakland, California; Toledo, Ohio; and Wichita, Kansas, to win the challenge again.

The other competitors are all substantially larger and have greater resources than West Chicago. In fact, the city closest in size is Green Bay, which is roughly four times the size of West Chicago, while the largest participant, Indianapolis, has a population of close to a million.

West Chicago excelled in three critical areas: bringing in lots of participants, especially schoolchildren; innovative tactics to engage people and keep them engaged; and being effective at getting the word out.

But officials said the real key to winning was Mayor Ruben Pineda's ability to mobilize his citywide network of volunteers, health and wellness activists and educators.

Health and wellness has been a priority for West Chicago for many years. In 2014, Pineda joined with a coalition of stakeholders from the public and private sectors to spearhead a citywide health initiative, Healthy West Chicago.

Additionally, the city has partnered on health initiatives with organizations including the National Forum, American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Diabetes Association, as well as United Way.

Pineda's community walking group, Team Pineda, originally caught the National Forum's attention and led to the city being invited to participate in the Move with the Mayor Challenge in 2016.

After winning the challenge that year, Pineda was invited to deliver the keynote address at the National Forum's 14th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

For more information about how West Chicago organized to win the National Forum Challenge, write to Valeria Lopez at vlopez@westchicago.org or call (630) 293-2200, ext. 170.