STRAP ON YOUR SNEAKERS FOR WALKFEST

Posted by Susan Bonanni 
on Apr 14, 2011
 

 It's that time again - time to gather your pledges and put on your walking shoes for WALKFEST. 

What's WALKFEST? District 7470's annual walk in the park to raise money for END POLIO NOW and to help Rotary Clubs and local non-profit community organizations at the same time. For more than a dozen years the Rotary Club of South Orange has benefited from WALKFEST (formerly known as WALK FOR THE WORLD). We have received 50% of every dollar we collected back from WALKFEST and received Foundation credits for the other 50% that goes to the Rotary Foundation. For the last couple of years the Foundation share has gone to END POLIO NOW as we seek to meet the Bill Gates Challenge and raise $200 million to eradicate polio.

This year there are two locales for WALKFEST - Loantaka Brook Reservation in Morris Township and Waterloo Village in Budd Lake.  It starts at 9 am and ends at 2 pm. Refreshments are plentiful - Larry Ripley was the grill chef at Loantaka - making lots of delicious hot dogs. Baked goods are available as well as coffee and cold drinks. Loantaka is a beautiful park and its trail is great for walking, running, roller blading and biking. And yes you can bring your pet(s).

For more information visit www.walkfest.info, or contact Margit Rahill at 973-361 -2810 or at turul1@aol.com. Locally you can get more information from Susan Bonanni at sbonanni@allegiancebank.com

 
Participation is simple. Pledge sheets will be distributed to every club member and anyone who is interested in having their local non-profit participate in WALKFEST. Since the walk itself is approximately 5K, we recommend at least a minimum contribution of $5 per contributor - but the more we collect, the more we get back. Last year PDG Janice was able to raise nearly $300 as she and Cleo braved the rainy weather to walk as far as two "physically challenged" individuals could do (yes she refers to Cleo as a person - she is a member of the Teetsell family after all). This year PDG Janice has two seriously bionic knees and is hoping to surpass that amount even though she cannot attend WALKFEST (she will be in Toronto for training for her second year as Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator). So even if you cannot attend WALKFEST you can still raise funds - it benefits Rotary and funds raised in the Club's name will benefit the Club's activities.