The numerous health benefits of daily 30-minute walks are the reason why the Collier County Health Department put the focus on walking for its Summer 2011 Worksite Wellness Program. “We are always looking for ways to help our employees improve their health, and walking is so simple that it can be done during lunch hour,” says Stacy Revay, healthy communities coordinator and chairwoman of the Smart Growth Coalition.

Revay’s Smart Growth efforts are tied to improving residents’ well-being as she works to help the county make the connection between health, the built environment and the need for creating walkable neighborhoods.

While the joy of walking can be experienced independently, it’s much more fun when done with groups, such as The Naples Walking Club or The Florida Volkssport Association.

The Naples Walking Club meets at 7 a.m., on Saturday mornings, in the Perkins Restaurant parking lot at 4255 North Tamiami Trail. The group walks to the City Dock, out to the Naples Pier, up the beach and back again. The club of approximately 75 members pursues other activities as well, such as hiking the mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee.

You can keep track of your walking history with the American Volkssport Association, a nonprofit organization that sponsors walking clubs and events throughout the United States. The Meandering Manatees Volkssport Club, in Lehigh, is one of 350 walking clubs in the association’s network.

For more information: Naples Walking Club, NaplesWalkingClub.org; Meandering Manatees, contact Beverly MacNeill at 239-368-1673 or [email protected]; American Volkssport Association’s Florida club walks in Fort Myers, LaBelle, Naples and Sanibel Island, WalkFlorida.org.

For information on parks with walking trails in Collier and Lee counties, visit LeeParks.org and CollierGov.net. Information on state parks in Southwest Florida is available atFloridaStateParks.org.

For information on Kaiser Permanente’s Every Body Walk Campaign, visit EveryBodyWalk.org.