January 11, 2008

Club One scores for Second Harvest

By Jeanne C. Carbone
Editor

As Jan. 1 rolls around, many people start the proverbial diet to lose those extra holiday pounds. Not so, at Club One, where a fitness challenge benefited the participants as well as Second Harvest Food Bank.

Club One members scored well during their holiday Turkey challenge, losing or maintaining weight as well as donating food to Second Harvest. Back row: Club One trainer David Macchi, Jon Taylor Jennifer King, Stefanie Layne, Matt Baker, Len Greene, Tom Gilmour, and Eric Ybarra. Middle row: Jeanne Pelletier, Jennifer Pollock, and Club One account manager Darleen Keegan. Front row: Fitness Manager Jon Wilson. Photo by Jeanne C. Carbone

“The Club One Turkey Challenge and food drive was a huge success,” said Fitness Manager Jon Wilson. “Participants were held accountable by their teammates who motivated them to stay consistent with their workouts and challenges. And last year’s total of 850 pounds donated to Second Harvest was surpassed in the first week of the challenge.”

Club One is located on the eBay headquarters campus off of Hamilton as well as the PayPal North 1st Street campus. It provides on-site staffing, management and fitness programming by generating participation and achieving results. Wilson reports that the Turkey Challenge and food drive is one of the most successful programs that both sites participate in. Employees form teams of four choosing names like the Phat Losers, Train Wrecks, Motley Crew, Gobblers, Kibbles N Bits and Huffle Puff. But it’s not all fun and games as participants set on a team building challenge with the opportunity to help out those who are less fortunate.

“Each week we had a different challenge like holding a plank,” said eBay employee and Turkey Challenge participant Jeanne Pelletier who was part of team Jimbo and the Girls. “None of us needed to lose weight on my team but with the holidays we wanted to just maintain our weight. It was fun and we were helping with a good cause.”

Points were scored in several categories including weight loss, food donations, relay races, volunteering at a food sort and weekly challenges at the Club One Fitness Center. Teams with the most points earned prizes including massages, dinner for four, personal training and gift cards among others.

The entry into the Turkey Challenge, held Oct. 29 through Dec. 14, was canned or boxed food products. Large barrels were placed at the entrance of Club One. Entrants displayed more bins throughout the eBay campus buildings as well as the North 1st location and weight was lost, employees became teams and the needy were helped. There was even an on-line virtual site to donate cash. The grand total of both Club One sites donated to Second Harvest was 9,500 pounds of food and $2,000 in cash.

“This was my first year entering the challenge,” said Campbell resident Stefanie Layne of team Triple T. “It was great fun. We pushed ourselves and lost weight and did a lot of fun challenges, three legged races and a 5k on the site.”

Eric Ybarra also part of Layne’s four-member team agrees. He lost 10 pounds. He’d like to see Club One initiate another challenge to raise food in January or within six months to continue the momentum. Team leader Jennifer King admits that it is difficult to lose weight during the holidays but she’s very glad she took on the challenge, as she didn’t gain one pound and “Second Harvest won!”

“Everyone had different goals: weight loss, body fat or just wanted to take on the challenge and the only entry fee was food,” said Club One Account Manager Darlene Keegan. “It was exciting to watch. I am lucky to have such a wonderful staff that’s creative and fun.”