BATC Holiday Mixer Leads to Weight Gain

THE HOLIDAY MONTHS DON’T ALWAYS SIT WELL WITH OUR STOMACHS. We have an appetite for shopping, but our spending can feel like a punch in the gut.  The stress of hosting dinner can leave us spread thin and why is it that Uncle Dave’s jokes always hit below the belt? And then there’s the food. We’ve indulged in Turkey, loosened our drawstrings and OD’ed on tryptophan, and that’s just the warm up. Bring on the cookies – gingerbread, shortbread, candied fruit bread (did I mention plain old bread?) – all in an effort to carb load before the inevitable resolution to lose all the weight we’ve pounded on!

While this list may sound familiar to some, it’s especially true for the attendees at our very own BATC Holiday Mixer.  For Mixer goers, however, it only took one night to really pack on the pounds – 372 of them to be exact!

That’s right, this year’s Holiday Member Mixer has led to an incredible weight gain of 372 pounds, but not all was gained in lb’s. That’s because members truly tipped the scales by donating over 220 canned goods and 346 boxed goods to Second Harvest Heartland, weighing in just under 400 lbs.

Donations were delivered on Tuesday to Second Harvest Heartland, the upper-midwest's largest hunger relief organization and member of nationwide food distributer Feeding America, which encompasses more than 200 food banks nationwide. According to Feeding America’s website, approximately one in six Americans does not have access to enough food.

In the land of plenty, and during a season of indulgence, the simple act of donating canned goods to someone in need can make all the difference between celebrating the Holiday season with a spirit of mirth and celebrating with a belly full of girth.

Thank you again to every member who donated at our Holiday Mixer. You really stepped up to the scale!

To learn more about hunger in North America take this survey from Feeding America.