Special
Events - First Annual Long Island PH Fun Walk
First-ever NY Fun Walk for PH!
October 22 dawned dark, rainy, and cold, but the spirits of the Long Island, NY, PHA support group were undaunted! While it
poured as we set up, the rain stopped about one hour before the
walk began—our prayers were answered! Over 100 people
braved the weather to walk in honor of or in memory of a PH
patient. Attendees proudly turned
in their sponsorship donations.
Children collected at their
schools, parents collected at work
and while we don’t have a final
number yet, we estimate that our
walk generated almost $20,000 for pulmonary hypertension research. Not bad for a first-time
event!
The two support group
co-leaders, Mary Bartlett, NP,
and patient Joanne Sperando-Schmidt, along with lots of
volunteers, managed to pull off a day of fun and fellowship for
all attendees. A raffle was held to raise additional money and
NHRA drag racer George Stack brought his race car with its “Racing for a Cure” message. George got the walk started by
revving that powerful engine. We also managed to mix
fundraising with advocacy and everyone’s goodie bag contained
two letters to our state senators
asking them to co-sponsor the PH
Research bill.
We must take a moment to
thank our corporate sponsors. We
could not put on an event like this
without your help! “Thank you”
just doesn’t seem to cut it, but
please know how grateful we are
for your support. Thank you to all
the volunteers who worked
tirelessly in the cold dampness
and a huge thank you to PHA’s
Debbie Castro, who came up the
night before the walk and rought
order to chaos!
When we stand together, we can accomplish great things.
Congratulations to everyone who participated. We made a
difference!
