Tuesday, February 24, 2009

No Smokes, Lots of Steps

Devon Albert and Taneshia Dunn grin during the Hustle.


Most people make changes a little bit at a time. But people like Taneshia Dunn just go for it. Taneshia ran up 52 flights of stairs this weekend during Hustle Up the Hancock. That’s 816 steps, people, all in one afternoon. That’s a bold move for a lady who’s working on quitting smoking AND losing weight, all while sharing her story with Lifetime television viewers.

(Don’t you want to support our girl? Go vote for her here!)

Taneshia works in the Preparedness department here at the Greater Chicago Red Cross, and she’s one of four finalists in the Lifetime Clean Start Challenge. For four months starting in February, Taneshia has taken on challenges that complement her goals to drop some pounds and to kick the nicotine habit.

“I’m having the time of my life. It’s fun," Taneshia said. "It’s making me do a lot of things that I wouldn’t ordinarily do, like hustling up the Hancock. It’s changing me a lot."

Taneshia joined the Hustle when she was challenged to raise money for a non-profit. In March, Taneshia will be picking up trash in the Pilsen neighborhood—a green idea she got from AmeriCorps member Lindsay Ortega. (Taneshia’s recruiting volunteers for that project, so give her a shout if you want to help!)

You can catch a glimpse of the Red Cross in Taneshia’s video here, and she hopes to incorporate the Red Cross into one of her upcoming challenges. You can keep up with Taneshia during her webisodes, and vote for her here. Go Taneshia, go!

No comments: