Special
Event Stories
North Texas Fun Walk For A Cure
Fundraising Success in Texas
By Rich Vandiver
PHA Support Group Leader in Fort Worth, Texas
The sun came out, burning off a cool and crisp fall morning.
With it came the crowd, and by the time it was over,
participants raised more than $11,000 dollars to benefit
the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. The event was the
second annual North Texas Fun Walk for a Cure, sponsored by
the North Texas PH Support Group.
More than 100 people made their way to Bob Eden Park
in Euless, Texas, on November 8. Connie Oliver, support group
co-leader, said it’s as much a family gathering as a fundraiser:“It was really good to get everyone together — people we don’t
see all the time.” Support group co-leader Sheila Williams
echoed Oliver saying, “The turnout was exceptional.”
The event got underway at 9 o’clock with registration.
Walkers received goodie bags and then visited vendor displays
to add to their trinkets. The one-mile walk followed at 10 a.m.
with lunch at 11. It culminated with a raffle, featuring dozens
of items, and a drawing. The drawing was just for patients and
included blood pressure monitors (cuffs), pulse oximeters, and
copies of PHA’s A Patient Survival Guide in both English and
Spanish. Vendors donated all of the items for the drawing. “More people than ever before donated raffle items and took
part,” said Oliver. “It was excellent!”
In 2007, the final tally for the inaugural walk was just
short of $4300. With checks and other donations still coming
in, this year’s total stands at $11,165. That’s more than
double! Williams said, “I was really surprised by the generosity.
I was shocked that we had a couple of donations of a
thousand dollars or more.”
Williams said
the event takes
place in November
on purpose:“November
is Pulmonary
Hypertension
Awareness Month.
We need to get
the word out …
we really need to get more
people on our side to help with the research to fight this lifethreatening
disease.”
Oliver agreed, “It’s easy to just say ‘PH’ when you’re
talking to people when you should be saying ‘Pulmonary
Hypertension.’ There are a lot of people out there who don’t
know what PH is, including some in the medical community.
It’s very important that we share our message.”
Oliver said work is already underway on next year’s walk, “We’re already collecting items for next year’s raffle, and the
corporate letters go out in January. We need to make sure
we’re involved in the community so they understand what PH
is all about.” Williams added, “And we plan to do even better
next year!"
