CFB Cold Lake members take in the Command Team Wellness Challenge Barbecue at Club 41 on September 3rd – All photos by Janae Wandler / The Courier News

4 Wing and Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Cold Lake-based members gathered at Club 41 on September 3rd to celebrate the completion of the 2025 Command Team Wellness Challenge, hosted by Personnel Support Programs (PSP). The event capped off eight weeks of fitness, fun, and friendly competition with a barbecue and awards presentation.

The Wellness Challenge, branded this year as Buddy Break, encouraged members to take short, 10-minute breaks during the workday to stay active and boost morale. From July through August, participants across 4 Wing logged their activities while competing for top unit honours.

“We saw great participation from the 2025 Command Team Wellness Challenge – Buddy Break!,” said Hannah Penn, Fitness Coordinator with PSP. “We get it, members are BUSY, Op Tempo is high, and 8 weeks of summer flies by quicker than it should! This is why healthy, 10-minute ‘Buddy Breaks’ were encouraged throughout the workday. The goal of the challenge? Boosting unit morale, encouraging physical activity, and of course, some friendly competition between units. This was our second time running the challenge and from the photo submissions, it looked like our members had fun and the challenge achieved its goal! Big thanks to The Personal for providing the prizes to our winners and our celebration BBQ. Buddy Break!”

Over the course of the challenge, units submitted a total of 96 Buddy Breaks, 20 of which were led by PSP staff, capturing an impressive 1,111 participants.

Challenge results were as follows:

Bracket 3 Winner: D/W Command — $300 CANEX gift card

Bracket 3 Second Place: 4MSS Replen — $150 CANEX gift card

Bracket 3 Honourable Mention: 417 CSS — $50 CANEX gift card

Bracket 4 Winner: 1 Dental Unit — $300 CANEX gift card

Brackets 1 and 2 did not receive enough participation to award prizes.

The Personal generously sponsored the prizes, the barbecue, and a door prize won by Heather Gunderson. As one of Canada’s leading providers of group home and auto insurance, The Personal has built a strong reputation for its exclusive benefits tailored to Canadian Armed Forces members and their families.

In addition to enjoying great food and camaraderie, members were also introduced to #PersyTheDuck, a small, blue mascot. Attendees were encouraged to snap a photo with Persy, share it on social media with the hashtag, and keep an eye out — their photo may be featured on The Personal’s own channels.

With another successful challenge wrapped up, PSP looks forward to continuing to promote healthy, active lifestyles across the Wing.