Be Well Philly Health Hero Finale

Last night Philadelphia Magazine crowned their Be Well Philly Health Hero Challenge winner; Dr. Beth DuPree. While I was just a tad disappointed that I didn’t win the contest, I am very honored to have even been nominated for such a title, let alone make it to the final four of the competition. Over the last few days I gave some thought to what I might say to the crowd if my name was announced as the winner. And the truth is, I really struggled to find the right words. As the evening unfolded, I realized why the words never came to me.

I think I would have struggled with accepting the “win” simply because there were too many worthy contestants playing for some very outstanding charitable organizations. I understand that there needs to be a winner, and to that point, I fully support and graciously applaud Beth DuPree for earning that title outright. She is a pioneer who is facilitating great change. But as I met more and more of the semi finalists last night, and learned more about their causes and missions I realized that the room was full of some very special people. People who are making a strong impact in the lives of so many people. People who are saving, changing, and molding in immeasurable number of lives.

As the voting portion of the competition reached a crescendo , I found myself reading all of the other contestant’s bios and watching their very inspirational videos and wanting them all to succeed.  In fact, I started following a few of my “competitors” on Twitter and liked their Facebook pages because I believed so much in the work they are doing. And I can easily see myself helping out a couple of these organizations in the future.

So, congrats to all contestants, especially our winner Dr. DuPree. And kudos to Philadelphia Magazine for pulling this together and for hosting a great event last night.