Humana Challenge Gives Fans a Great Reason to Get Moving

January 12, 2012

LA QUINTA, Calif.—Humana Inc., one of the nation’s leading health-care companies, is taking steps—literally—to encourage golf fans and residents of the Coachella Valley to improve their personal well-being and help secure a Humana donation of up to $500,000 for local charities during the Humana Challenge.

The Humana Challenge, in partnership with the William J. Clinton Foundation, is challenging players, spectators and the general public to make positive changes in diet, exercise and lifestyle.

As part of the Humana Walkit program, participants will raise money for tracking their steps throughout the week by wearing pedometers.

“The Walkit program embodies the essence of the Humana Challenge,” said Mike McCallister, Humana’s chairman and chief executive officer. “The initiative serves as a great community catalyst for shared well-being, and it gets people active through walking to support worthy causes.”

Humana has pledged to donate $1 for every 200 steps ($10 for every mile) walked during tournament week, up to a total of 100 million steps for a maximum donation of $500,000. Humana will work with the tournament’s host organization, Desert Classic Charities, and its charity distribution committee, to determine where to allocate the donation based on community needs and will announce the total amount raised and the recipient charities in the spring.

More than 12,000 pedometers will be distributed at various local events leading up to the Humana Challenge tournament. Fans, volunteers, players, caddies, media and residents across the Coachella Valley will be challenged to track their steps as they walk and log their steps online to make every step count toward the donation.

The Humana Walkit initiative continues a long tradition of philanthropy surrounding the tournament, which has generated more than $50 million in donations for Coachella Valley charities over the past 52 years. It also pays homage to the roots of the tournament, formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic, as it embodies the values of Bob and Dolores Hope. Walking was a large part of the everyday routine of Bob Hope, who lived to be 100 and almost never missed an after-dinner walk regardless of where he was and who he was with.

For more information on the Humana Challenge, local events and the Walkit program, visit humanachallenge.com.