The morning began with a bit of a chill as the sun hadn’t quite yet risen. The early volunteers were grabbing coffee and munchkins as the tables and tents arrived. With Benhaven’s finest volunteers, some SCSU students and thirty-five North Haven Football players on hand to help, the Walk preparations came together at a surprisingly fast pace.
JB Sports assigned the volunteers, who were organized for the second year in a row by Kathy Sterrett from Rosenberg House. Parking, traffic, lifting, hauling, setting up table and tents, registration and t-shirt distribution were done at remarkable speed. The sun was out and the energy was good.
Linda Grimm, Director of Benhaven’s Academy displayed all the items that were donated for our wonderful raffle. Among the treasures were a pair of Arianna Grande VIP tickets, secured by Arlene Kaye. The winners were announced by Kyle Scheyd. The raffle brought in $800.
As people began showing up for the event so did some surprises. WPLR had a big tent and WTNH’s camera man arrived without our prior knowledge. Kathryn du Pree did a wonderful job of recording a piece telling about Benhaven’s Mission and why the walk was important. The clip can be found on WTNH’s website. Later in the morning, News Anchor Stephanie Simone arrived to MC the event. The event was dedicated to Bud Armstrong, who passed away this past year, leaving a generous donation to Benhaven.
All told, there were more than 350 registered walkers, and all of Benhaven’s Programs were represented. While some seemed slightly overwhelmed with the crowd, everyone seemed to enjoy the festivities in the end. Northside and the Academy made some fun team t-shirts. There was lots of fun competition in our programs to raise the most money for the Walk. TJ Igoe was the top individual fundraiser for the second year in a row. Individual Family Support was the highest team winner with $6563, while Rosenberg House raised $4800, the most of all of our residences. The Room 1 Team at the Academy and the Pink Roses Team at the School both succeeded in their goal of raising the most donations for their programs. The Transition Team did a nice job raising almost $3000.
Several Board members and alumni staff including the indefatigable Linda and Steve Simonson were on hand for the fun. Holy Smokes, a band with several school employees provided a morning of delightful music.
The Walk netted a profit of $56,600. This reflects a 62% increase from the First Walk. We have asked all Benhaven programs to decide how they want to use a portion of the funds raised that will help us help individuals and families to live our Mission. We will post how each program uses its share of the donations.
We cannot accomplish this without a lot of team spirit and the help of many individuals. Thanks to those staff who served on our Walk Committee. Special thanks to Tacie Lowe who is our inspiration, Kathy Sterrett who coordinates our volunteers, Linda Grimm who organizes the raffle, and Dan Kahl who offers all of our great activities. We have many individuals volunteering but would like to extend special thanks to the Council for Exceptional Children at Southern University and to the North Haven High School Football Team.
We are also grateful to the many vendors who donate food and drinks. We extend thanks to Bagelicious, DD of Branford, Hancock Pharmacy, the Lyle Family, Neil’s Donuts, Starbucks, Stop and Shop, and Whitney Donuts.
The event’s title sponsor is SPARK | Yale. We encourage you to check out SPARK. You can learn about exciting research opportunities at Yale, including SPARK, the largest genetic study of autism ever. The goal of SPARK is to speed up research and advance the understanding of autism. Other major sponsors for the event include Barrett Outdoors, Rose & Kiernan, Mutual of America, Advanced Periodontics, Connex Credit Union, TBNG, All Waste, Hancock Pharmacy, Precision Glass & Mirror, Town Fair Tire, and Yale New Haven Hospital.
Additional sponsors include Dunkin Donuts of Wallingford/North Haven; Check Writers; The Pension Service; Attorney James W. Shea; Foucault’s Furniture & Appliance Store; Capotorto’s Apizza; Encon Heating & AC; RE/MAX Alliance; Precision Auto; The GEENTY Group, Realtors; Fasano, Ippolito, Lee& Florentine, LLC; Webster Bank; Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield; Josh Karsmarski; David Fantarella Dental Group; Goody’s Hardware; L.E. Whitford Co., Inc.; Southern CT State University; Red Baron Carpet Cleaning LLC; The Rural Gas Company; GC Electric; Yale Child Center; Cannan Christian Fellowship; Bond Bilt Garages; Southern Connecticut Dental Group; AMR; Hartford Yard Goats; Foxwoods Resort Casino; Duke and Helen Rosenberg; Executive Honda; Microsoft; Sharon’s Salon; The Advisor; and The Holy Smokes.
Thanks to all who participated in getting sponsors, volunteering, asking for donations and most importantly, showing up! It was a very successful event made successful by everyone’s efforts.