|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Each February, I join other swimmers at Burgess Pool for a simple challenge: to swim as many yards as we can over the course of the month. It’s a familiar routine — early mornings, counting laps, trying to stay consistent. What makes it different is what those laps support.
For every 2,000 yards we swim (about 1.25 miles), we donate a can of food to the Menlo Park Senior Center. This year, 97 swimmers logged nearly 5 million yards and contributed more than 3,000 cans.
To swimmers, it doesn’t feel like a large campaign. It feels like a small adjustment to something we already do, and it really helps us get through the short winter days. Consistency matters more than scale. A simple, repeatable structure — one that fits into existing habits — can generate steady community support over time.
I’m part of Menlo Masters, a 400-member swim group based at Burgess Park and open to adults of all abilities. Lanes are organized by speed, so everyone has a place. Under coach Tim Sheeper, the focus is on consistency and participation, which is what makes the February challenge sustainable year after year.
There is some friendly competition. Some swimmers add extra laps before work; others extend their workouts. This year, nine swimmers exceeded 100,000 yards, and two — Tony Spencer, age 77, and Aleksei Averchenko, age 32 — each swam more than 188,000 yards. Most swimmers achieved 50,000 yards. Over the month, the pool lobby fills with stacks of donated cans. We can literally see our yards stacking up.
To better understand the impact, I contacted Tony Ng, head chef at the Senior Center. He explained that the lunch program serves about 60 seniors each day, and the donations play a practical role in those meals. “The canned goods are an amazing ingredient for our senior lunches,” he said. “On average, 60 seniors come to lunch daily. Every 24 cans can make a hot entrée for 60 senior lunches. The seniors really appreciate that Menlo Masters swims for us and donates.”
As swimmers, we know where the donations are going. The Menlo Park Senior Center is part of the same community we live in, and the impact is easy to understand. That clarity helps sustain participation year after year. Our February yardage shows the power of simple, local partnerships, connecting effort to purpose.
Kim Freitas is a member of Menlo Masters and a Redwood City resident.
