Charities race for best walk
| • | Upcoming walks |
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Health Writer
Sher Satterfield is walking for multiple sclerosis. Mark Merriam is lacing up his shoes for kidney disease. Tony Butera is pounding the pavement for birth defects.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
If it seems like everyone is walking for a cause these days, it's probably because a great many are. O'ahu has just entered the spring charity walk season. In the next seven weeks, six charities will unleash thousands of walkers on O'ahu parks and streets.
Sher Satterfield, who has multiple sclerosis, pins paper sneakers in her office at Xerox for the MS Walk.
"I don't think you can find a charity that doesn't do a walk anymore," said Carmella Hernandez, who organizes the granddaddy of walks, the March of Dimes. When it began 32 years ago, the march had the sidewalks to itself. But more and more charities have put on their walking shoes as a healthy way of raising awareness and money.
On O'ahu, people can WalkAmerica. They can Walk this Way. Or Walk for Diabetes. They can do it for kidney disease. Or AIDS.
Last year, the spring walks attracted more than 10,000 participants and raised more than $1 million, largely by walkers' asking friends to sponsor them.
No one can pinpoint why so many walks are held from March to May. Some charities do it to capitalize on the spring weather — presumably not too hot, not too wet. Some schedule their walks in conjunction with national events.
"It's a great fund-raiser. You don't have a lot of up-front costs," said Julie Schweitzer of the Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, which jumped on the bandwagon last year. "A lot of it is time-intensive, but in terms of money there's not a lot of outlay for a charity, and there's a lot of people who follow the circuit and go from walk to walk to walk."
The nonprofits are all in it for a good cause, and don't like to think of it as a competition. But organizers do sigh over the spring walking flurry and the pressure it puts on them to stand out and be successful.
"It's lousy," Hernandez said with a laugh. "There's only so many resources out there as far as — for one thing — volunteers. You use volunteers as course marshals, to help organize the walk — so you're spreading those resources thin."
Charities also must vie for the support from businesses, who enter teams and provide sponsorship, food and supplies, or prizes.
"We call a lot of places and a lot of people say, 'Sorry, we're already helping another walk,' " said Donna Donahue at the Arthritis Foundation. The group's walk, one of the newest on the block, distinguishes itself by being the only one held indoors and on the Windward side, she said.
Tony Butera, general manager of the stadium Kmart, said deciding which cause to help can be difficult when all the walks happen at once. The company tries to help those it can, Butera said, but it throws its weight behind the March of Dimes, which raises money to prevent birth defects and infant mortality. Hundreds of Kmart employees join the walks, and the company holds competitions and incentives. The stores also offer $1 paper sneakers so customers can contribute.
The event has extra meaning for Butera because research paid for by the march probably helped doctors save the life of his son, born prematurely 33 years ago.
"That's why I have such a passion for it," he said.
As the calendar fills up, organizers search for ways to stand out from the pack, sometimes beginning next year's planning as walkers cross the finish line. Fostering a fun family atmosphere, the walks include such incentives as food, live entertainment and prizes.
One woman told an organizer last year she had chosen a particular event because it featured an inflatable jump structure for her child. Most participate, however, because their lives have been touched by a particular disease.
"I think you get a lot of family members of people who have MS, and a lot of friends, but there are people who just like to do something to make a difference," said Satterfield, who has MS.
She walked the 3-mile course last year with braces on her knees, and plans to do it again with the help of colleagues at Xerox. More than 60 joined the "Walk for Sher" team last year, and she hopes at least as many join this year.
"I do the walk to help raise money for all the people in Hawai'i and across the United States to help find a cure," she said.
Making a difference also motivates Mark Merriam, president of Aloha Graphics, who does the kidney walk with his staff.
"I took my kids, so they have a sense of community service," he said. "They are fun and they are definitely a social event in addition to helping the agencies. It's an opportunity to walk around Kapi'olani Park, and you can't beat that on a nice morning."
Reach Alice Keesing at akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.
