They don’t call it Rocktober for nothing! Positive Tracks did a whole lot of moving and shaking at two major charity partner events in two days—the Dempsey Challenge and the CHaD HERO. The events involved two Burpee Boogies (see below), led by Positive Tracks’ very own house DJ and youth sweat activator, Doug Lewis. McDreamy and McDougy primed the crowd for sweaty action with moves like The Sprinkler, The Pencil Sharpener, and, of course, a Burpee or two.
But let’s take a step back from TWO to ONE – because all good stuff starts with one single intention and action. Let’s eyeball the ONE bedrock Burpee that started this Burpee Boogiefest: Doug’s first Burpee back in July, which triggered the Eliteam Burpee Challenge that launched over 100,000 Burpees and raised $6,172 for Positive Tracks.
Positive Tracks’ Founder Nini Meyer told the story at the Dempsey Challenge Press Conference, “Now this Burpee was no every day, boring old Burpee. No, this was a special Burpee – a Burpee 2.0 – laid down 4 months ago with higher purpose (a Burpee With Higher Purpee!) to inspire young people far and wide to use their own abs, glutes, pecs and hearts – their own Burpee 2.0s – to make the world a better place. Starting with themselves.
Lo and behold, that one act of will, fired off by Doug, was witnessed by the savvy, civic Dempsey Center Healing Tree Teen Group, who sparked a chain of sweaty dogooderness that’s now bopping and burping its way across a crew of galvanized young people who steward the long-term FUTURE of the Dempsey Center. And, in fact, the entire globe – after they make sure the Dempsey Center’s OK, of course.
As Meyer relayed, Jordan Roubinek of the Healing Tree Teen Group did raise $686.24 doing 1,500 Burpees of his own. Then the Healing Tree Teen Group challenged Positive Tracks Team Red Eddies of Edward Little High School (who, by the way, raised over $36,000 this year at The Dempsey Challenge) to bang out their own Burpees With Higher Purpee. Then the Red Eddies challenged the Edward Little football team. The football team challenged the girls soccer team, girl’s soccer challenged the boys soccer, who challenged the Auburn Middle School Boys Soccer.
You catch the drift of what’s going on here. Even the staff of the Dempsey Center laid down the gauntlet! We haven’t done the math, but we can tell you that Lewis’ first Burpee With Higher Purpee has produced many, many babies Burps With Higher Purps.
Meyer says, “This beautiful, youth-powered movement is just one example of thousands of other sweaty gestures of hope, compassion and love I’ve witnessed at The Dempsey Challenge in our five years of partnership. We are so humbled to be a part of this thing. This is people helping people. Kids helping kids. Proof that the power of sport can lead to full-scale community mobilization. And proof that once a human heart – especially a kid’s – has been stretched by a singular Burpee 2.0, it never returns to its original size.”
But don’t just read about it. Check out Doug’s Burpee Boogies!
We know. You just can’t get enough Uptown Funk…