Astoria Homes Has Final Weigh-In

Out of 55 Astoria Homes employees, 38 participated in this month-long weight loss program to benefit the American Heart Association. For every pound lost, Astoria Homes donated $5 to the charity. The various Astoria Homes staffers lost a total of 127 pounds, which equaled a donation of $635.

The whole drive came together after Executive Assistant Audrey Carrizzo wanted to lose twenty pounds before "bikini season." Also wanting to lose some extra pounds, Executive Assistant Beverly Brown had the idea of involving the entire company and a charity. Together, they went to President Tom McCormick with the notion and as he is known to do, McCormick couldn't say "no" to charity.

McCormick said, "We wanted to support the community and encourage our employees to stay fit. The extra plus was the friendly inter-office competition. It kept things lively."

As an added incentive, a pool was started internally. Everyone participating in this program could donate $5 to the pool and at the end of the month, the person who lost the most weight could claim the pool money.

John McNeil, from the American Heart Association, helped with the weigh-ins by providing the scales and even taking the scales out to the construction fields so all the participants could weigh in.

After all the scales had been tipped, it came down to two pounds. That's all that stood between participants Audrey Carrizzo and Vice-President of Construction, Troy Smith. Audrey lost a total of 12 pounds and Troy lost a total of 10 pounds.

Congratulations to all the employees that participated in the program.