SCCCF Survive, Thrive & Be Fit: Active Survivors of Sheboygan Activity Logs!

The Sheboygan County Cancer Care Fund’s Survive, Thrive & Be Fit program offers a variety of FREE activities for area cancer patients and survivors (and, in some cases, co-survivors) designed to address the physical challenges of cancer recovery in a supportive environment that allows participants to connect with others in our Local Cancer Community. Offerings have included Gentle Yoga for Cancer Survivors, Steps to Survivorship (casual walk run opportunities), Indoor Row Group, Hiking Along the Cancer Journey (day hikes and backpack outings), Survivorship Through the Lens (outdoor photography), Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Cancer Survivors, Survivors on Snowshoes, Pickleball Play and our newest activity (added in 2020 partly because it naturally encourages social distancing) Great Heights with Delightful Kites (kite flying outings) and more!

Although COVID-19 has caused us to suspend some of these activities, move some to a virtual platform (via Zoom) or adjust them accordingly there are still plenty of opportunities for cancer patients and survivors to join in our efforts in “Making Sheboygan County the Healthiest Place to Survive Cancer!”

There is one other activity that we offer. It is one that, perhaps, many of you aren’t familiar with... but that’s probably my fault because I don’t mention it often enough. It is the Active Survivors of Sheboygan Activity Logs which started in 2012, making 2021 our tenth year and a great reason to draw more attention to it!

The Active Survivors of the Sheboygan (A.S.S.) Activity Log allows survivor-athletes to choose their own form of exercise/activity as well as the intensity and encourages them to exercise for 30-minutes or more each day for as many days as they want throughout the month. If they exercise 30-minutes for 8-11 days during the month they earn 1 point, 12-15 days and they earn 2 points, 16-19 days and the year 3 points and 20 or more days and they earn 5 points. (Note: Health experts recommend adults exercise 30-minutes a day at least five days a week.)

In addition to this being the tenth year of the Active Survivors of Sheboygan Activity Log, another great reason to draw attention to this activity is the dedicated group of survivors that are currently participating!

Throughout much of 2020 I have been trying to figure out how to best continue to offer ST&BF activities amidst COVID-19 and, as a result, I sort of forgot about and neglected the Active Survivors of Sheboygan. But, with the year coming to a close, I realized it was time to update the results. After doing so, I was impressed and astonished with the results!

In January fourteen survivor-athletes submitted their logs... and nearly twelve months later... ALL fourteen have continued to submit their logs with only a single instance when one participating survivor-athlete, due to personal reasons, was unable to meet the minimum requirements and did no submit a log! Even more astonishing: at this point, almost 94% of the logs submitted recorded 30-mintues or more of exercise/activity at least 20 days of the month!

So... congratulations to these 15 survivor-athletes for your continued efforts to “Survive, Thrive & Be fit”:

Linda Ansay, Cindy Becker, Deb Borucki, Kathy Burch, Bob Hartig, Leah Heusterberg, Judy Kleijunas, Dan Kunda, Bev Leonhard, Candy Meyer, Diane Micoliczyk, Sharon Pentek, Tim Renzelmann, Rae-Ellen Weber, Sue Zalewski

Sharon Pentek, who participates in many of our ST&BF activities including the Active Survivors of Sheboygan Activity Logs, sent me a note along with one of her recent activity logs that read:

I have been spending a lot of time at home because of this pandemic. I didn't want to fall in the habit of being a couch potato so, I've been getting outside as much as possible for the fresh air and some exercising (usually long walks in different places throughout the city/county). Sometimes I do it with my husband. Every month I've been filling out those exercise sheets and sending them back to Tim. They have been a real incentive for me to keep moving. I like it that there is even a point system with the number of days you exercise per month. I feel so much better when I exercise daily.

Thanks Tim, for offering this opportunity!

Obviously, COVID-19 will bring continued uncertainty, challenges and adjustments to ST&BF as we move into 2021... but the Active Survivors of Sheboygan Activity Log program is one that is not impacted by the pandemic or it’s precautions! So consider becoming an “Active Survivor of Sheboygan”!

To commemorate the tenth year of this activity, survivor-athletes who earn ten points or more will earn the right to “wear the blue” of Survive, Thrive & Be Fit and will receive a team T-shirt (or other merchandise)!

Ten years ago, when we started this group, I couldn’t resist the name “Active Survivors of Sheboygan” partly because of the acronym – A.S.S.! As one of our past survivor-athletes commented, “I am happy to see our A.S.S. team get bigger... while mine gets smaller!” 😊

Watch for the 2021 log sheets or contact me and I will e-mail you when it is available!