Jordan Rasmussen
Published: April 15, 2009

DUBUQUE - For a year now Cindi Haugen has been hula hooping. She has noticed that her waist line has trimmed down significantly and wanted to make others aware of the benefits of hooping.

Haugen and her friends at the YMCA all wanted to hoop so Haugen came up with an idea to have a hula hoop class for adults to get in on the fun. The hoops are very expensive so Haugen decided to make them for a cheaper price.

Haugen said, “I have been making them sense last August and all the money that we raise goes to Resurrection Catholic School.”

The hoops are made at her home and then distributed to places around the tri-states such as Free Flight, Second Chances, Body and Soul, Butterfly Life, LA Weight Loss, Shapes, HyVee, Jazzercise, and Women’s Wellness Center. The hoops cost $15 and all proceeds go to Resurrection School.

Haugen teamed up with Carol Collins and brought her hula hoops to the youth from the community in gym class and during recess. Collins got asked by Haugen to start a class, Collins said,” You know it would be really cool if we could have a hoop class here, I use to hula hoop when I was in the 3rd grade it was my favorite toy, so I’ll do that.”

The class is a 30 minutes work out and it tones your body, works on your balance and coordination, and helps generate laughter. Haugen says,” The best part of the hoop project is the support from the Dubuque community.”

Haugen and friends have made over 3,500 hoops and have raised 35,000 dollars for Resurrection School.

If you would like to learn more about Haugen’s hoop making contact her by email at haugenhouse@aol.com and to sign up for classes at the YMCA go to their website at www.dubuquey.org

Jordan Rasmussen can be reached at Jordan.Rasmussen@loras.edu