Sign Up for an Action-Oriented Fundraiser to Benefit Your Health and Others

In the small town where I live, a local car wash often advertises that 10 percent of all profits on a specific day will be donated to a local school or a local non-profit group. It's a great way to get your car clean AND benefit others at the same time. Sounds like a total win-win!

Want to go the extra mile (literally!) for your favorite charity and get even more bang from your buck? Sign up for an action-oriented fund-raising event. Researchers have discovered that when you exercise, it benefits your mind as well as your body, helping to prevent mental conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers as well as physical concerns such as diabetes and heart disease. Studies also have shown that when you volunteer, you reap multiple health benefits as well.

"There's all kinds of data that shows that doing good for others is good for you," says Kimberly Fowler, the CEO and President of YAS Fitness Centers. In addition to the physical and mental benefits for you as an individual, "it's a great way to demonstrate to younger people social responsibility and care for others. This is such a "me"-oriented time. It's valuable for all of us to be reminded of doing for others."

Participating in such charitable events, adds Kimberly, "raise not only overall awareness for the causes, but also improves the health of a community. "It's healthy for communities--for cohesion and trust and support and compassion among community members. It's healthy for participants--physically, psychologically. It's healthy for observers--positive example/role modeling. It's healthy for people struggling with, for example, cancer, by raising their spirits through demonstration of caring as well as raising money for their health care."

Kimberly isn't just spinning words: she's spinning up a "spin-a-thon" fundraiser as well for the Los Angeles Dodger's Charity "Think Cure." The fundraiser, scheduled for June 6, has a goal of raising $150,000 with a minimum pledge of $1000 per bike in the four Los Angeles-based YAS Fitness Centers.

Check with your favorite non-profit organization or charity to see what types of fund-raisers they have. From walking dogs to benefit a non-profit animal shelter to running a marathon for a special charity to doing four hours of yoga for a non-profit organization, there's probably a fundraiser just right for you.