CSMFO 2022-23 Wellness Challenge
Rich Lee, CSMFO President Elect, Finance Director, City of San Mateo
As a part of the philanthropy theme for the 2023 annual conference, CSMFO is kicking off a wellness/fundraising challenge! We’re going beyond the walking/step challenges of yesteryear. For the 2022-23 Wellness Challenge, participants will be tracking the number of hours of any physical activity – from walking, running, and hiking to dancing, tennis, and surfing!
The challenge will begin on Monday, October 17, 2022 and end on January 25, 2023 – 100 days!
The CSMFO Board recently authorized a matching contribution to selected Sacramento nonprofit organizations of up to $25,000. In order to capitalize on the support from CSMFO for this Wellness Challenge, please ask your family, friends, and colleagues to sponsor you. To add a little heat to your competitive fire, President Elect Rich Lee will be sponsoring $100 each to the top 10 participants’ selected nonprofits. The selected nonprofit organizations are:
- Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
- Sacramento Loaves & Fishes
- My Sister’s House
As an example of how sponsor can support your fundraising efforts, you could ask them to contribute $1 for every hour of exercise completed during the challenge. If you exercise an average of one hour a day during the challenge, your sponsor would donate $100 to one of the three charities above.
If you want to throw down the gauntlet with your fellow CSMFO members, send an email to President Elect Rich Lee at rlee@cityofsanmateo.org, with your name, local chapter, and selected nonprofit from above that you would like to support. Rich will add you to the Basecamp Wellness Challenge Community where you can post messages and photos on the message board. He’ll also share an Excel worksheet where you can enter your weekly exercise hours. We’ll be recognizing the members with the highest total hours on a weekly basis. At the 2023 annual conference, we will recognize the overall individual winners based on two categories: 1) total hours of exercise and 2) total amount raised. We will also be recognizing the local chapter with the highest averages for exercise and amounts raised. Bragging rights are at stake!
To get your motor running, check out some of your CSMFO leaders get their sweat on for a good cause!
Rich Lee has served local municipalities all throughout the San Francisco Peninsula over the past 17 years, including South San Francisco, Los Altos Hills, Millbrae, Foster City, and since January 2019, as the Finance Director for the City of San Mateo.
Rich was elected as President-Elect of CSMFO in October 2021. He has also served in other leadership roles, including Board Member, Chapter Chair, and Vice Chair of the Career Development Committee. In 2019, he was appointed to GFOA’s Ethics Committee.
Rich is also an active freelance bass trombonist and has performed with several artists, including Barbra Streisand, Peter Cetera, Gladys Knight, Bernadette Peters, and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. He has also performed and recorded several albums with local jazz big bands
During the pandemic, Rich developed audio and video engineering skills and received two awards from Music In Place, a non-profit organization providing support to San Francisco Bay Area musicians to continue creating music while sheltering in place. His various isolation music projects are available on YouTube.
