Find your community with WeightWatchers

Meet WeightWatchers members face-to-face or virtually at Workshops and tap into WW’s exclusive social network to share tips, recipes, and solutions for common challenges.

WeightWatchers Workshops are coach-led group sessions held in a Studio location or online. You don’t need to go, but the extra support can ramp up your results: Workshop members lose two times more weight than those who DIY.^ Workshops offer unlimited accountability, and give you a sense of belonging alongside coaches and members who really get it.

WW Connect is a WeightWatchers members-only digital community that’s filled with people who are working toward their wellness goals while cheering you on as you reach yours. When you’re losing weight and building healthy habits, sharing the experience with others can be incredibly helpful. WW Connect makes it better together!

How Connect works:

 Post photos or videos of your journey, recipes you love, things that inspire you, and milestones along the way.

 Get inspired. See how other WW members are getting healthier and get their best tips.

 Explore your interests. Search hashtags via the Connect bar at the top of the screen.

 Find and follow people. Check out #newbies, #5amclub, and #wwfamily to get started.

 Pay it forward. Cheer on other WW members by liking and commenting on their posts.

 Join NEW Connect Groups based on topics, interests, and stages in your journey.

All benefits eligible employees, spouses, and adult dependents get an exclusive discount of 50% off the retail price of WeightWatchers membership and can join now for as low as $8.48 per month*. (Link to) Sign up at WW.com/us/CommonHealth

^^Based on a 6-month multicenter trial. Apolzan JW, et al. A Scalable, Virtual Weight Management Program Tailored for Adults (n=136) with Type 2 Diabetes: Effects on Glycemic Control. Presented at American Diabetes Association’s 82nd Scientific Sessions. 2022.

*The Special Monthly Pricing and The Commonwealth of Virginia discount per month are not open to retirees, their spouses and dependents, wage employees or The Local Choice members. “As low as” price reflects WW Digital plan for Commonwealth of Virginia employees. Monthly payment required in advance. You’ll be automatically charged each month in accordance with company pricing until you cancel, your employment with your organization terminates or the agreement between your employer & WW terminates. Offer available in participating areas only.

Check out some desserts recipes by WW to share with your loved ones this holiday season!

Chocolate chip meringue cookies

These delicate little cookies are the perfect combination of vanilla and chocolate. They are light and airy and melt-in-your-mouth which makes them an irresistible treat. Make them to share with a crowd at a party or to give them as gifts during the holiday season. If you prefer chewy meringues, make them the day before you plan to eat them. You can make these cookies mini if you prefer. Just use heaping teaspoons of batter; not tablespoons. Or for a decorative, star-shaped appearance, spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe into mounds.

(Link to) Read the full recipe here

All benefits eligible employees, spouses, and adult dependents get an exclusive discount of 50% off the retail price and can join now for as low as $8.48 per month. Sign up at (Link to) WW.com/CommonHealth

EmployeeExperience@dhrm.virginia.gov

Caramel Cookies

Delicious and so easy to bake in small batches. Just keep the dough in the fridge or freezer and slice off and make as many cookies as you want at a time.

(Link to) Read the full recipe here

All benefits eligible employees, spouses, and adult dependents get an exclusive discount of 50% off the retail price and can join now for as low as $8.48 per month. Sign up at (Link to) WW.com/

CommonHealth

Chocolate chip cheesecake

This cheesecake is so creamy and rich you might not even need more than half a slice. Speckles of chocolate chips make it taste and look irresistible. It’s quite delicious as is but you could certainly garnish each slice fresh sliced strawberries or raspberries. We used almond extract which gives it a cherry-like flavor but the traditional vanilla variety would taste great too. Store covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to one week. To make easy work out of crushing the cookies, place them in zip-top plastic bag. Press the bag to remove excess air. Seal and roll a rolling pin back and forth over the bag to crush the cookies.

Read the full recipe here

All benefits eligible employees, spouses, and adult dependents get an exclusive discount of 50% off the retail price and can join now for as low as $8.48 per month. Sign up at WW.com/

CommonHealth

Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice

Don White, a Facility Safety Officer for the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, was awarded the 50-Year Volunteer Service pin by the American Red Cross National Capital Area Chapter, at the historic Mount Vernon Inn in Fairfax County, VA on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

An award-winning Red Cross Disaster Instructor, Don also provided lively safety training to hundreds of new Virginia state employees for 25 years at the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) in Falls Church, VA (1992-2017), and 5 years at the Virginia Public Safety Training Center (VPSTC) in Hanover, VA (2017-2022).

Don also presented lively Emergency Planning workshop sessions and at the Commonwealth of Virginia Safety Officer Network meetings in Richmond, Salem, and Norfolk, VA (2018); and Terrorism Response Planning at the International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety’s Fall Seminars in Virginia Beach, VA (2002, 2003).

Chief White also provided lifetime-value safety-fire-disaster training to many NVMHI psychiatric patients as part of NVMHI’s innovative “Treatment Mall” daytime classes at that 115-bed Virginia state hospital.

Teaching passion began during high school weekends as a Smithsonian Museum Docent at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC (1970-1972).

Community service got sparked by Red Cross Disaster Shelter service during the June 1972 Hurricane Agnes floods in Alexandria, VA. Lifetime public safety service resulted as an Alexandria Volunteer Firefighter/EMT, Alexandria Deputy Sheriff, Virginia Corrections HQS staff, USDOT Special Agent, State Hospital Safety and Security Director, and recently as a VPSTC Adjunct Instructor.

Donald E. White Facility Safety Officer | Virginia Public Safety Training Center

Alt Text: Courtney Bulger and Don White holding a 50-Year pin

Kindness is Abundant at DMV

Kindness. It costs nothing. It requires little effort. It can turn someone’s day around in an instant. It’s something for which the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) employees are notorious. With so much kindness to share, they celebrated Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Day throughout an entire week.

DMV RAKtivists’ overflowing generosity was on display in all corners of the Commonwealth February 14-18. What is a RAKtivist? Penned by the Random Act of Kindness Foundation, RAKtivist is short for “Random Acts of Kindness activist.” These kindness ambassadors aim to make kindness the norm. They went above and beyond with small, but meaningful gestures to show cowork- ers their appreciation for their hard work and dedi- cation to the agency and its goals.

Employees shared treats, motivational quotes, complimentary messages on sticky notes and much more.

Like most recognition activities at the DMV, employees were challenged to see which of- fice or headquarters work center had the best RAK Week celebration. The Chesapeake Customer Service Center (CSC) was declared the winner! The leadership team provided lunch, handed out a “Reset to Resilience” flyer, created a random acts of kindness word scramble, and gave employees motivational pins to wear on their lanyards.

“RAK Week was a great opportunity to boost morale and show a big amount of appreciation through simple gestures,” said Cheryl Cuffee, Generalist Senior at the Chesapeake CSC. “Our team works hard and we want them to know it doesn’t go unnoticed.” The Random Act of Kindness Foundation challenged participants to keep the momentum going, resolve to explore the good, and make kindness the norm! DMV employees plan to do just that.

Check Out some of the Fun Activities our Employees Enjoy...

The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) were the 2022 runner ups for the Governor’s coed softball league! This was the first time that VADOC participated in the league. We started the season out as undefeated until the last 3 games. The team was comprised of employees from various areas of VADOC, Human Resources, Probation and Parole, Internal Audit, Offender Management and the Almost Home Café. We will be planning on fielding a team again next year! - Carrie Choe, MBA, CCP, PHR, SHRM-CP

Virginia Economic Development Partnership

Members of the International Trade team have recently found a shared hobby: crochet. They’ve started meeting weekly during the lunch hour to relax, crochet, and talk about all things yarn. Knitters and crocheters alike are invited to join. Crafters of any skill level are encouraged to attend; you can even learn how to crochet from members of the group if you want. Current projects include baby blankets, scarves, blankets, and hats.

Dear State Employees:

The Engage Anywhere Team provides positive, creative, and sharing opportunities for employees throughout the Commonwealth. In order to evaluate our efforts, we want to hear from you! Please give us your thoughts and feedback on how we can continue to connect all state employees in every region of Virginia.

Let us know if you have participated this year and provide your input to help tailor our future activities. Please click on this link and take a couple of moments to participate in this follow up survey.

Thank you!

Creating Community – Beyond Virginia’s Borders

Community isn’t just about place it’s about common experiences, like dealing with adversity. When natural disasters strike, the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) is there to lend a helping hand. While Virginia enjoyed a fairly typical summer, the national news shared stories of raging wildfires in other parts of the country. During a two-month period, VDOF personnel provided fire suppression assistance to Texas. In total, 64 full- and part-time firefighters helped Texas battle drought-fueled wildfires.

Virginia crews worked on fires across the southern part of the state, over diverse landscapes, with different behaviors than they typically see here. Altogether, VDOF crews spent more than 18,000 hours assisting the Texas A&M Forest Service. VDOF also deployed staff to provide incident management and firefighting assistance to Alaska, California, Idaho, New Mexico and Oregon. It should be comforting to know that when Virginia needs help fighting wildfires or cleaning up after a hurricane, other states’ forestry agencies step up to help us too.

VDOF Project Learning Tree Coordinator

Cindy Frenzel recently extended our sense of community to the West Coast. At Sequoia National Forest in California, wildfires have destroyed nearly 20 percent of the largest giant sequoia trees.

Frenzel spent several weeks at the “Land of the Giants” working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service as well as local emergency response and natural resource agencies to help raise awareness about protecting these remarkable trees. To date, 1,213 giant sequoias have been protected in six groves covering 404 acres, and that number grows daily.

"VDOF provides assistance to other state forestry agencies through a national compact agreement to share resources during certain times of the year,” said VDOF Director of Fire and Emergency Response John Miller. “Under the agreement, VDOF is reimbursed by the receiving state for all related expenses. The realworld experience and skills our team members bring back to Virginia is invaluable.”

VDOF Project Learning Tree Coordinator Cindy Frenzel recently extended our sense of community to the West Coast. At Sequoia National Forest in California, wildfires have destroyed nearly 20 percent of the largest giant sequoia trees.

Frenzel spent several weeks at the “Land of the Giants” working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service as well as local emergency response and natural resource agencies to help raise awareness about protecting these remarkable trees. To date, 1,213 giant sequoias have been protected in six groves covering 404 acres, and that number grows daily.

Greg Bilyeu Director of Communications Virginia Dept. of Forestry

Learn how you can help your fellow state employees by visiting

(Link to) The Virginia State Employee Assistance Fund

Grants are available to eligible state employees suffering from a financial crisis or an unplanned emergency/or unplanned event that impacts the employee or family members living in the residence of the employee. The VSEAF is a recognized 501c(3) charity member of the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC), Code 203040.

Employee Financial Wellness

Get your Financial Checkup with Virginia Credit Union's Financial Fitness Academy. Take your free online financial fitness checkup. Get a personalized action plan to boost your financial fitness and enjoy access to 200 online learning modules. (Link to) Get Your Checkup!

For more employee financial literacy resources from VRS, Treasury, EAP and the Virginia529, please visit the (Link to) Employee FinancialWellness webpage.