Delaware Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long

LAST CALL FOR LT. GOVERNOR’S CHALLENGE ENTRIES!

Deadline extended to Tuesday May 31^st to submit nominations

WILMINGTON, DEL. – The mission of the Lt. Governor’s Challenge is to improve the quality of life of all Delawareans. It honors the individuals, organizations and institutions that inspire others by making healthy choices the easiest choices for their communities, ultimately helping elevate the well-being, productivity, and prosperity of the First State.

“The Lt. Governor’s Challenge is our way of encouraging healthier lifestyles among Delawareans,” said Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, a lifelong health and wellness advocate who holds a Ph.D. in health policy and nursing administration from George Mason University. “The programs we honor deliver real and lasting results to people throughout Delaware.”

What does it take to become a Lt. Governor’s Challenge honoree? Creativity, caring and data. Just ask past winner Brandywine Counseling & Community Services (BCCS) CEO Dr. Lynn Morrison.

Honoring Healthy Living

“The Lt. Governor’s Challenge gave us the opportunity to highlight the importance of wellness in the workplace, our staff as far as all the good work they were doing and communicate with the community about the essential services BCCS staff provided during the pandemic,” Morrison said.

“When COVID-19 was taking its toll on society at large, it was hitting extra hard for those in the business of helping others. At BCCS, it was clear the staff was straining under the pressure. So, the team developed an organization-wide initiative to help employees manage their own stress, better care for themselves while many were in isolation and working remotely and share their own mental health challenges and discuss the strategies they used to cope.”

Morrison considered the BCCS program a perfect example of what the program was looking for – a wellness initiative that went above and beyond the agency’s normal parameters by approaching a specific problem with creative thinking and measurable results.

Data a Factor

As one of the criteria of the Lt. Governor’s Challenge is measurable proof that a health or wellness program had positive results, BCCS made sure to include this data in their nomination.

The results of the BCCS program were positive in both the short and long term, Morrison said. In the BCCS 2020 annual employee survey, employee engagement was up from the previous year and 79% of employees indicated satisfaction with BCCS as an employer, up two points from 2019 and 7% above the national benchmark. Employees also indicated they saw BCCS as supportive during COVID and expressed satisfaction with senior leadership and the way BCCS communicated with employees.

Nominations Deadline Tuesday, May 31^st.

For those businesses or agencies considering submitting their own wellness programs for the 2022 Lt. Governor’s Challenge, nominations are open now with deadline of Tuesday, May 31^st. The challenge seeks programs that:

• Are local to Delaware
• Address physical and/or emotional health or well-being within Delaware
• Drive results through changes in policy, systems and/or the environment within an institution, business or community.

Nominees should demonstrate that their programs have gone above and beyond ordinary expectations or industry requirements and have the data to back up how their program succeeded. For more information about submitting a nomination, the Lieutenant Governor has prepared a short video on the nominations page emphasizing these key criteria.

For information, visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Any additional questions that arise during the nomination process can be directed to info@ltgovernorschallenge.org.

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