Library’s walking program to promote community health and civic engagement

By on Thursday, March 23rd, 2023 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories

JOHN DAY – The Grant County Library and OHSU School of Nursing have teamed up to promote health, wellness and civic engagement within the Grant County community. The OHSU Walking Program will be starting up soon, and it’s an opportunity for a group of 15 to 20 community to get together once weekly and walk together, as well as talk about potential community improvement projects. Project Coordinator Jim Winkle with OHSU informed KJDY listeners that there will be funding available to actually complete one of the projects:

“So, we have 20 libraries and 10 of them are like Chris’ library—they’ll not only walk together, but also have a half-hour afterward to discuss amongst themselves, ‘how could they improve walkability in their community?’ Perhaps by improving a trail, or fixing a streetlight. After about eight weeks of talking together, coming up with an action plan, etcetera, we will give those groups $5,000 to complete whatever little project they come up with.”

The program is free to participants. To sign up, visit or call the Grant County Library at (541) 575-1992. Participants will receive a complimentary Fitbit and a t-shirt.

Listen to the full episode below: