In line with this year’s EXPO theme “Feeding the planet, Energy for life”, the campaign made it possible for visitors, throughout the duration of the event, to exercise both on Technogym equipment, and by walking around the Expo grounds, and converting these physical movements into meals for children in need, with results exceeding expectations.
During the Milan EXPO close to 50,000 people participated in the social campaign, reaching a total of over 650 million MOVEs (Technogym’s unit of measure for physical exercise) corresponding to approximately 300 million calories consumed, and about 41,000 kilograms (90,390 pounds) lost!
To extend the initiative beyond Expo, the dedicated Technogym App enabled gyms and fitness centres around the world to also participate and donate movement to the cause.
Through such initiatives, physical exercise acquires social value and becomes ‘healthy’ not just for those who exercise but for the cause being supported. For many years, Technogym has been active promoting wellness as a social opportunity for communities, governments and enterprises. “Let’s Move & Donate Food” is an initiative aimed at leveraging technology to help address world hunger, targeting a tech-savvy generation. Technogym provides the first platform to connect equipment to a cloud ecosystem for physical exercise management.
President and Founder of Technogym, Nerio Alessandri said: “We are witnesses to a global paradox. On one hand nearly 2 billion people are either obese or overweight and on the other hand there are 800 million who are malnourished . The aim of our campaign is to bring about a real change by promoting physical activity and fighting malnutrition at the same time.”
Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta, President of WFP Italy, said: “The results obtained thanks to the partnership with Technogym demonstrate how one can help children and their families in the world’s poorest countries. In the fight against hunger, the WFP school meals represent a sound investment to support the future of coming generations. We are grateful to Technogym for backing this initiative so strongly and we hope to work together again in support of other WFP projects.”
Through its collaboration with the WFP, Technogym is taking part in the global “Zero Hunger Challenge” initiative launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
