Helping to alleviate hunger can be fun, and can involve the hips and tummy to an invigorating degree.
The 3rd annual Hooping for Hunger event is still a month away, but now is the time to get your hooping skills polished and your four to seven-member team signed up.
The May 27 event at John McCrae Public School is a four- to five-hour hula hoop-a-thon, and so the team approach is best.
In the lead-up to the event, sponsor Flow Office Wisdom will host a hula hoop demonstration/training session this Saturday, all day, at the Stone Road Mall.
Hula hooping, no matter where it happens, tends to draw a crowd, said Flow Office Wisdom partner and Hooping for Hunger organizer, Crystal Wilson. That’s why it was chosen as the way to bring focus to the problem of hunger.
In the early days of Flow Office Wisdom, a leadership building and plan mobilization organization, a team building exercise was held that involved making and using hula hoops. It took place in a local park. A surprising number of curious people flocked around and wanted to try it out.
“We encourage the team approach because it is four to five hours of hooping, and that is a heck of lot for one person to take on,” Wilson said. “We have people sign up in teams, and then those teams get sponsors and pledges.”
All the money raised goes to The Hunger Project Canada and Chalmers Community Services Centre. So far, the event has raised an average of $10,000 each year. Another $10,000 is the target this year. Wilson said team registration has been slow so far.
Go to www.hoopingforhunger.ca to sign up.
“We’ve had a bit of difficulty reaching out to a new audience,” Wilson said. “I think a lot of people are intimidated by the actual task of hula hooping.”
There will a lot of hula hoops available during Saturday’s hooping event at the Stone Road Mall, and the hoops will be for sale.
“People can stop by any time,” Wilson said. She added that seasoned hula hoopers will also be on hand at the May 27 event to offer instruction during the warmup.
