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An anonymous millionaire is sponsoring an unusual weight loss campaign in Finland. For every 2 pounds shed by Finns — 20 dollars will go to fund education for children in Nepal. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more from Finnish reporter Heli Keskinen.

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MARCO WERMAN: A new campaign to lose weight is just getting off the ground in Finland.  It’s not a fancy new diet or exercise regime.  Instead, for every two pounds overweight volunteers shed, $20.00 will go to fund education for children in Nepal.  Sounds like a clever way to support a good cause and get fit at the same time.  Finnish reporter Heli Keskinen is following the story.  She’s in Tempere outside of the capital Helsinki.  Heli, tell us how this campaign got started.  Who came up with the idea?

HELI KESKINEN: Well this one Finnish person, who doesn’t want to give out his name.  He is ready to donate ten million Euros to Nepal.  He challenged Finnish church and also the National Institute for Health to participate on this campaign.  So they are together challenging Finnish people to lose weight and raise money for Nepal.

MARCO WERMAN: And so what kind of people are stepping up to get on the scale?  Are these volunteers clearly overweight?

HELI KESKINEN: Well not everyone.  That’s funny because the donator wants the people who participate to be over 18 years old.  They have to be overweight people.  But, more than that, you can be any shape or size you want to be.  I talked with one lady, who said that she’s been planning to lose weight for a long, long time, but she didn’t find the motivation for it and this campaign gave her a reason to do it.  At the same time, she loses weight and is feeling better about herself, but also she can help children in Nepal with this weight loss.

MARCO WERMAN: So was the possibility to help less fortunate people out by losing weight, it seems like a pretty good motivator.

HELI KESKINEN: Yeah, and that’s why she wanted to start this.  And without this reason, she didn’t believe that she could ever step up and lose weight by herself.  This was also, her colleagues were supporting her.  They all got together and they all decided to go together.

MARCO WERMAN: It’s a really smart plan.  It shows just how much conspicuous consumption actually shows up on our bodies and we can give that away to help less fortunate people.  How much could this program potentially raise, Heli?

HELI KESKINEN: Well we don’t know yet, but its one kilogram, which is a little over two pounds, the donor gives 15 Euros.  And lots of people are coming to this to just lose one or two pounds.  And then there are people who want to lose like 20 pounds.  And the donor is ready to give all the way up to 10 million Euros.  We don’t know how much teams can lose weight, we’ll just see.

MARCO WERMAN: Reporter Heli Keskinen in Tempere, Finland where a campaign to shed pounds and help children in Nepal is underway.  Thanks very much for speaking with us Heli.

HELI KESKINEN: Thank you.

MARCO WERMAN: This is PRI.

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