Wellness is focus of fundraising relay event at Burlington High School
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
All jokes about the unlucky number 13 should be pushed aside – at least when it comes to the 13th Annual Hope Walk.
“It’s coming together,” said Hope Walk Board Member Judy Bratz. “We’re ready to roll.”
Or, as fellow Hope Walk Board Member Jan Ludtke said, “ready to walk.”
The weather forecast for Saturday’s event, which will run from 4-10 p.m. at the Burlington High School Athletic Field, looks good, with rain – knock on wood and fingers crossed – holding off until Sunday.
The walking relay event raises money to help fight life-limiting diseases that impact Burlington residents.
Twenty-two different teams and vendors will have booths at the Burlington High School track, with the theme of this year’s event being health and wellness.
Some of the vendors include Burlington Family Chiropractic and Core Chiropractic, and L’Bri natural makeup.
Aurora Health Care will also be there doing screenings, including blood pressure.
“We’ve gone more with a health and wellness theme this year,” said Ludtke, as opposed to a theme like holidays or pirates. “This year, we’re getting more focused.”
Also at the event will be the Volunteer Center of Racine with the Safe Assured ID program. For children and seniors, people fill out questionnaires and have photos taken so alerts can be issued more quickly in the case of someone going missing.
The City of Burlington Fire Department will also be at the event.
The schedule of events for the Hope Walk:
• The opening ceremony will be at 4 p.m. The silent auctions and 50/50 raffle also begin at 4 p.m.
• A Zumba-thon, with as many as 12 instructors and corporate representatives from Zumba in attendance, will be at 5 p.m.
• A BBQ dinner – sloppy Joes, chips, a cookie and beverage – will be at 6 p.m. Cost is a free-will donation.
• The 5K Dusk Run will be at 7 p.m.
• Two bouncy houses will be available throughout the event, as well as children’s games with a three-legged race (6:30 p.m.), sack race (7:30 p.m.) and Scavenger Hunt (8:30 p.m.).
• This year’s speaker, Sophie Branen, will speak at 9 p.m. at the closing ceremony, with the Candle of Hope ceremony to follow.
The live band “Reality Check” will be playing, and DJ Tom Howard will be on hand as well.
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On behalf of the Hope Walk I would like to say what an incredible community we live in. This years event was a huge success. As a community over the past 13 years we have raised over $1,000,000 for research and education for life limited illnesses. Thank you to everyone that participated in the event. Thank you to those of you that were sponsors to make the event happen.