Dexter Plans Community Wellness Walk for Saturday

A planned wellness walk to promote fitness among residents in Dexter has morphed into a fundraiser benefiting the Dexter Relief Fund.

The walk will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday beginning at the . The Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation (CWF) will donate $20 to the relief fund for each adult walker who participates on Saturday.

"Walkers will help their community by raising relief funds and also by highlighting community wellness efforts. There’s the added benefit of exercising with family and friends," Amy Heydlauff, executive director of the CWF said. "With so much good coming out of the morning, I’m looking forward to a big turnout.”

Walkers have the option of picking between a 2- or 3-mile route. The route will take participants down the new trail along Mill Creek. No registration is required and dogs are welcome.

"The purpose of the wellness walk is just to get people moving in Dexter," Abby Erickson, executive director of the said. "We want to show the community that you don't have to do a lot to get fit, you just need to get moving."

This is the second walk hosted by the Dexter Wellness Coalition. The coalition has been meeting since spring 2011. Erickson said the coalition has been hard at work developing a in order to apply for grant funding through the CWF's "Five Healthy Towns" project.

"The coalition has identified several topics we want to promote in Dexter: eating healthier, moving more, creating healthy relationships and avoiding unhealthy substances. This walk is a good start because it covers two of those topics," Erickson said.

For more information about the Dexter Relief Fund, visit www.dexterrelieffund.com. For more information about being a part of the coalition, contact Matt Pegouskie at matt@5healthytowns.org.