From the President

It is the belief that within all of us exists the capacity to create change; and through that change we can make things better for our families, our communities and ourselves. It is also the notion that individual pieces coming together, and working together, can create unimaginable possibilities. Some might call "it" the Power of One.

As we begin 2008, we are celebrating the great possibilities of the Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign and the profound effect the Power of One is having on the Campaign’s success. Tens of thousands of Washingtonians answered our call during the 2007 Governor’s Health Bowl. The result: A staggering 5,072,288 miles of health! That is more than double the previous state record set in 2006. A collective accomplishment made possible through so many individual efforts. The Power of One at its very best.

Just two years ago, reaching our 1 million mile goal for the first Governor’s Health Bowl seemed like an impossible journey. Some chose not to participate because they couldn’t see how we could succeed, or why it would matter even if we did. Clearly, they were underestimating the Power of One.

During the 2007 Governor’s Health Bowl, 35,000 individuals, nearly 1,000 organizations and more than 360 schools were involved. Incredible numbers, but we truly believe this is only the beginning. The broad based participation and the 5 million miles seems like just another big step on a longer road. As we say every year, the next Governor’s Health Bowl will be bigger, better and will produce yet another new record!

The idea that all of us have the power to make a difference is supported by the growing success of the Health Bowl and of the overall Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign. Our ultimate performance objective in this campaign is our state health rank. And there are analytically sound ways to rank our overall state health, through such reports as the annual United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings. Late last year, the United Health Foundation released its 2007 rankings.

We are now #12! This is fabulous news for our campaign, and good news for the state of health in Washington. Last year, we were #15 and our leap up three spots puts us in the upper tier of progress among all states. More importantly from our view, is the progress made over just the past three years. When we started the campaign in 2004, Washington was in a free fall slipping from #7 in 1997 all the way to #17 in 2003. Today, we have not only stopped that slide….we are turning things around and I believe our campaign has a lot to do with that.

Late 2007 was also a time to celebrate some individual and collective Heroes of Health whose actions emphasize Healthy Living and Healthy Systems. This year, we were proud to honor: