2012 WALKs and Special Events – The Year in Review

by Randi Corey, National Director of Special Events and Volunteer Support

When I was a child one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving Day was watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade from New York City on television. One of the tidbits of information they imparted that impressed me, even at that young age, was that the day after the parade they would start working on next year’s parade. As I grew older I understood that better – that many things in life are not in a straight line but circular.

As it is with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, so it is with HA’s WALKs and Special Events. Since the majority of HA’s WALKs occur between September and November, one could make a case that HA has a “WALK season” although I, and probably many of our volunteer WALK Chairs, might disagree. Just like Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as the last WALK is held, we start working on next year’s events. HA WALKs and events are a year-round endeavor.

2012 started out as usual. Several established WALKs and special events wouldn’t be returning for 2012. Some new volunteers stepped up, adding new WALKs/Special Events to the calendar. We hoped these would result in a “positive net” — more new WALKs/events (and revenue) than the previous year.* However, some of the new events did not come to be for various reasons, resulting in only a small increase in the number of events over the prior year.

By early February we were on a roll – WALK Chair training meetings had been scheduled and were underway, new volunteers for established sites were in the process of being recruited…and then HA announced we were relocating the national office and closing the San Francisco facility at the end of July, which would result in major staff changes. This was also the year for HA’s biennial conference, scheduled for June 26-July 1 in Bethesda, MD and an exciting new HA Research Conference, scheduled for early July in Seattle. Although we expected these elements could complicate the workings of our heretofore fairly well-oiled machine, we truly didn’t appreciate the extent of the challenges that would accompany these reforms and new ventures.

Looking back at 2012, in many respects I will always think of this year as a test…especially testing the patience of our WALK and event Chairs…as well a tremendous demonstration of their tenacity and determination. In addition to all of the usual work to bring their event to fruition they were challenged in ways they, or we, couldn’t have imagined. Some of the obstacles they encountered were the national WALK/SE department being understaffed for several months, the office relocation from the west to east coast (packing, moving, unpacking) accompanied with a complete turnover in national administrative staff and the learning curve for new staff. Things that previously had run smoothly and almost seamlessly didn’t this year. Tasks that the volunteer Chairs were accustomed to HA handling for them automatically…weren’t. Email responses took a bit longer, there were some delays in delivery of materials topped off by some major errors by a new vendor. It also required national staff trying to become expert in fundraising software on the fly and numerous other frustrations — great and small.

Despite all of the frustrations, HA’s WALK and special events Chairs stayed the course. They did more themselves. They followed up, they asked, they nagged when necessary but they never once threw up their hands and said “I’m done – I don’t need this!” (Although I’m sure more than one considered it….) They came through like the champions they are. Their drive, their passion, their determination and their willingness to do the hard work in less than ideal circumstances, indeed, makes them one of HA’s most valued resources.

Thanks to our WALK/SE Chairs and their dogged tenacity, I’m pleased to announce that current year-end projections is that HA WALKs and special events will achieve (and perhaps exceed) its $1,006,000 goal!

Now that the major dust has settled and new staff is in place, our WALK and Special Event Chairs have our promise that we will do everything in our power to bring WALK/SE support back up to its previous high standards. Knowing our Chairs, they won’t be afraid to hold us to it. And so I reflect, if this is what we can accomplish with all of these challenges, what can we do when we don’t have these distractions?

Special thanks and gratitude to all of this year’s WALK/Special Event leaders for their patience, caring, dedication and determination. You made it happen!

Event Category	City/Market	State	Chair/Co-Chairs
WALK	Birmingham	AL	Lauren Morrow
			Nalini Patel
WALK	Phoenix	AZ	Maggie Bobrowitz
			Jill Diedrich
School WALK	Capri Elementary School (Campbell)	CA	Debra Graham
WALK	Fresno	CA	Kelly Fjelstrom/td>
			Cheryl Merrell
WALK	San Francisco	CA	Maureen Pardi
			Miaja Rocciola
WALK	Denver	CO	Phyllis Rogers
WALK	Steamboat Springs	CO	Christian & Laura Karch
WALK	Hartford/New Haven	CT	Jenifer Jeans
Run/WALK	Washington	DC	Barrett O’Connor
			Martha Fleury
WALK	Smyrna	DE	Katie Wilber
WALK	Southern Florida	FL	Eileen Rodger
WALK	Atlanta	GA	Jen Taylor
			Kymmi Wilson
WALK	Chicago	IL	Stacy Buckner
			Katie Cook
			Zahadita Kudrna
			Andrea O’Shea
WALK	Columbus	IN	Sarah Billman
			Elizabeth Shafer
WALK	Wichita	KS	Mary Havens
			Rachel Inskeep
WALK/Concert	Louisville	KY	Jennifer Bruce
			Brittney Neidig
WALK	Boston	MA	Jennifer Martinage
			Jennifer Miles
WALK	Detroit	MI	Dan and Sara Naragon
WALK	Minneapolis	MN	Heather Sorenson
WALK	St. Louis	MO	Maurice Woodruff
WALK	Graham	NC	April Brantley
WALK	Londonderry	NH	Lisa Barton
			Melissa Remillard
WALK	Albuquerque	NM	Kathy Carrillo
			Karen McCabe
School WALK	Eugene Auer Elementary School (Long Island)	NY	Mia Padron
WALK	Long Island	NY	Jackie Davidson
			Mia Padron
WALK	Cincinnati	OH	Julie & Shawn Robinson
WALK	Portland	OR	Jerrod & Tara Miller
WALK	Middletown	PA	Jackie Fullerton
			Danielle Gutshall
WALK	Chattanooga	TN	Chara McLaughen
WALK	Nashville	TN	Melissa Arsenault
			Genia Hastings
WALK	Houston	TX	Margaret Powers
WALK	Salt Lake City	UT	Sarah Ann Whitbeck
WALK	Seattle	WA	Paul Gross
			Gena Azar
WALK	Milwaukee	WI	Patti Lampien
			Cassie Siebenlist

2012 Special Events
Birthday Celebration	Miami	FL	Glenn Ebert
Extreme Athletes (Marathon-type events)	Nationwide	US	n/a
MX for Children	Houston, Salt Lake City, Seattle, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Toronto	TX, UT, OR, MO, NV & Ontario, Canada	Paul Gross
Nashville Legends Concert	Mt. Pleasant	MI	Angie Raulerson
Richardson’s Farms Craft Show	White Marsh	MD	Les Richardson Ben Simpkins
Spirit of America Ride	Tampa, FL to Denver, CO	FL	Mark Paulissen Mary Sodano
Team Hydro Swims for a Cure/Sharkfest	Alcatraz/San Francisco Potomac River/Newburg	CA MD	Pam Finlayson Peter Finlayson Sam Finlayson
Thanks for Running (15th Annual)	Fitchberg	MA	Amy Maynard
Thomas A Simms Jr. Masons Lodge # 170 Poker Run	Oak Grove	KY	Robert S. (Steve) Taylor
Zelesky Event	Pottstown	PA	Eric & Sara Zelesky
Zumba-thon	Miami	FL	Roxana Ramos

*Since all HA WALKs and special events are 100% volunteer initiated and volunteer coordinated when a WALK or special Event Chair resigns it can unfortunately often result in HA losing that site/event and its revenue until new volunteer leadership steps up to bring it back or keep it going.