We have gotten through the heart of 2011 already (I still can’t believe how fast it has gone by), and I thought I would give you all and update on what Better Life Chiropractic and Wellness, LLC has been up to on the charitable side of things, as well as, give you an idea of what is in plans for the future.  Most of our progress focuses on the Omaha region, but hopefully we will be expanding that scope in the near future.

I recently agreed to help as a chairperson for the Tour de Cure.  The Tour de Cure is an annual bicycling event to raise money for the support of the American Diabetes Association (for diabetes research).  The event will be held in Springfield, Nebraska again this coming year (June 3, 2012), and brings together a wide variety of novice and skilled riders for a variety of distances.  It is a great event, and I hope you will all consider taking part in it, or sponsoring someone who does.

You may ask why I decided to get involved in this event.  There are actually a few reasons that I took the plunge.  First, diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases in the United States today.  There are millions of sufferers and millions more that haven’t been diagnosed.  It is projected that one out of every TWO (yes, 50%) children born today will suffer from diabetes at some point in their life.  We must find a cure for this devastating disease.

Secondly, this is an opportunity for me to use my position in the world for something greater than myself.  Giving money to a cause is one thing, but actually spending time and effort to help with an event really takes things to the next level.  Somebody has to put in the behind the scenes work, and I feel that this is a good opportunity for me to do that.

Finally, I think this event will teach me a lot about the non-profit sector.  Like I said before, is easy to send a check to an organization, but you don’t really learn about the nuts and bolts of the operation.  As you will find later in this article, I have plans that should be bolstered by my experiences here.

The second thing that we have done this year is institute a military discount program.  Obviously we are not the only service providers that do this, but we feel it is important to help our soldiers.  They have put in a lot of hard work to bring us the freedoms/protections that we have, and this is a small gesture to thank them for their work.  Without programs like this, our soldiers would have to pay for chiropractic care out of their pocket (the military insurance system doesn’t cover chiropractic care).  I think this is a little short-sighted of their insuring entities, because the physical stresses that are placed on these soldiers necessitates chiropractic care in many instances.

Finally, as we have done since opening, we have spent a lot of our time getting out to help the public with sports/nutrition/health-based programs.  We have offered complimentary stretching and massage at athletic events.  We are starting a speaking program (I am currently trying to nail down some dates and locations) to address health and nutrition topics.  And I am taking part in the Plattsmouth Kids’ Health Expo at the Plattsmouth Community Center on October 15, 2011 from 10-2 PM (there will be a lot of interesting activities to push kids’ awareness of health and nutrition forward).

Better Life Chiropractic and Wellness, LLC has a lot planned for its future as well, though.  I want to talk a little bit about the two bigger projects that are currently in the beginning stages of work.  These projects are a little longer-term and won’t be in up and running for a while, but we are trying to figure out how to implement them as quickly as possible.

First, we are working on getting a research project set up.  This project will be a long-term study (10 years or more) and will focus on whether or not we can help prevent arthritis with certain muscular techniques.  As many of you know, arthritis is another disease that afflicts a large population of people.  It is a debilitating disease that I think could be diminished in many cases.

We are currently in the funding stage of this project.  If any of you are expert grant writers, have any suggestions on who we could contact, or think you could help in any other capacity, I would love to talk to you a little more in-depth.

The final project that I have been researching is starting a non-profit organization.  As I mentioned earlier, getting an education in this area would be very helpful, and was partly the reason behind my joining the Tour de Cure team.  The organizations would actually have a lot of overlap with each other, as the group that I want to target is at a high risk of experiencing diabetes at some point in their lives.

The focus of this organization will be on eliminating childhood obesity.  The goal of this organization will be to educate parents, teachers and children on obesity.  We need to educate these groups on how to avoid obesity, what its associated risks are and what we can do to reverse it once we have it.  If we can educate these groups, we should see a large decrease in the rates of obesity.

As I’m sure you are all aware, obesity is running rampant through America.  Any of you who know me personally know how strongly I feel about this subject.  Nothing disappoints me more than seeing an overweight little kid.  These kids have their whole lives in front of them, and they are starting off at an immediate disadvantage.  It is almost impossible to live a healthy life if you don’t start out healthy.  I would compare that to building a house and not putting it on any kind of foundation. 

As I stated, the last 2 projects are still on the ground-level, but we are looking forward to their implementation in the future.  I just wanted to plant the seed with you and see if any of you have any ideas, or would like to help us move these projects forward.  As I mentioned, if anyone has any recommendations, comments or just wants to help, I would love to talk to you more.  Please use my contact information below to get a hold of me.

I hope y’all are as excited about the future as I am.