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The
New Bedford
Wellness Initiative, an effort to raise health awareness with the
goal to help prevent disease and recover from illness through healthy
living and not just medications, held its sixth monthly walk in Buttonwood
Park on September 6, 2014. Dr.
Michael Rocha assembled over forty dedicated walkers for a two-mile
walk around the Park on a humid Saturday morning. Walkers also had the
opportunity to purchase fresh produce from Silverbook
Farm in Dartmouth and to join a free meditation/stress reduction
session with Jonathan Felix. "We've finally made a little blip on the
mark," said Dr. Rocha
"and the City is starting to take notice that we're trying to do
something different to try to get people healthy through diet, exercise,
dealing with stress." The walks are open to anyone and are
scheduled on the first Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. at the
Buttonwood Park Zoo. Click
here for a for an eight-minute 
video of
the walk. Click
here for photos and video of the August walk. For more information on
the Initiative, go to the New
Bedford Wellness Initiative Facebook page.
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(Top row) Gloria McGreevy looks over the produce with
Sharon Lewis that Tiffany Medeiros, center, of Silverbrook Farms in
Dartmouth brought as Dr. Rocha talks with Bonnie Ortiz and Faith Burkley
before the walk. (Row two) Over forty walkers take off on the two-mile
route around Buttonwood Park. (Row three) Faith shares a laugh with
another walker as they head out onto Rockland Street, and one-year-old
Tyson Vanderveer sleeps while his parents push his carriage around the
north end of the Park. (Bottom row, left)
Cardiologist Dr.Michael Rocha, who organizes the
walks, talks with Faith after the walk and learns that she feels more
energized. (Bottom row, center and right) Bob Amancio selects some
vegetables from the Silverbook Farms produce as Jonathan Felix waits for
walkers to gather in the Park classroom for a session on meditation
and stress reduction. |
