Partners energize Walk Fest

By Steve Sharp of the Daily Times staff
Monday, June 18, 2007 12:40 PM CDT

Participants in the 2007 Tomorrow's Hope Walk Fest make their along the track at Jefferson High School Friday while raising money to benefit area health-related organizations. (John Hart/Daily Times)

JEFFERSON - Tomorrow's Hope Walk Fest 2007, with its theme “Walking As One,” was - in its 10th year - again a success with $261,800 net raised.

Event partners included St. Vincent de Paul, J&L Tire and Tyson Prepared Foods.

“We were blessed with beautiful weather,” one of the event's organizers, Barb Endl, said today. “It was a little warm but we had plenty of benches, golf carts, fans, umbrellas, water and Gatorade to ensure the safety of our survivors and participants.”

Endl said she was particularly pleased with an opening ceremony Friday that she called “spectacular.” A 30-by-50-foot American flag, donated by Bergstrom Cadillac of Madison, was unfurled as 75 members of the Cambridge/Deerfield Men and Women's Choir sang the national anthem. While that was taking place, 10 members of the AtmosphAir Skydiving Center floated onto the event grounds at Jefferson High School.

“I can't say enough about our event partners,” Endl said. “They aren't just our sponsors, they have become our friends. The strength we receive from their encouragement and belief in who we are as an organization energizes us.”

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Gary Hagg shared heartfelt comments during the opening ceremony about his recent encounter with heart disease.

“Gary's comments really hit home,” Endl said. “Many of us don't realize that heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Cancer is No. 2. He reminded us of our accountability for our own health. He went to the doctor for back pain and, by chance, mentioned he was having chest pains. His doctor not only heard what he said, but he reacted to it. I'm sure Father's Day had a special meaning for Gary and his family.”

Endl said she was proud and pleased with the financial results of the event.

“In the past, we have been blessed by receiving money from a variety of sources. The sale of the house donated by Havill-Spoerl, being remembered in someone's estate, being remembered in honor of someone's retirement or the gift from the attorney general's office last year. This year, we didn't have any of those unique donations and our donations are up,” she said.

Endl said the organization's ability to make a “direct deposit” into the health care of the community members is the result of what she termed “the incredible support” Tomorrow's Hope receives from community members and business leaders.

“As an organization, we can't thank our supporters enough,” she said. “Personally, I want to thank everyone for the gifts of love you have given me through Tomorrow's Hope. There aren't words that can describe the gift of fulfillment and reward I have received by being able to be a part of this organization. I will be forever grateful.”

The number of Candles of Hope sold totaled 1,101. Fish and chicken dinner sales by Capn's Catering totaled 685. Total teams numbered 56. The team raising the most money per person was the Towne Inn, with 14 people raising $3,475, an average of $248.21 per person. The female raising the most money was Shirley Boos of Boos Brothers Construction with $2,460. The male raising the most money was Zach Manders of Michael's Memory raising $3,269.50. The team with the most laps was The Drips with 11 members walking an average of 29.73 laps per member. This team also manned a booth selling hand-painted plates, mugs and soup bowls decorated with the 2007 Walk Fest colors and theme done by Oh, What A Dish, a paint-your-own pottery studio in Appleton. The Tanksleys had a team member who walked 98 laps for the top female and two males on the same team each had 96 laps. Team prizes and gift bags were donated by Towne Inn, Knutson Jewelers and Star Cinema.

During the event's opening ceremony Friday, Endl thanked two groups of people. The first was a group that works for Tomorrow's Hope throughout the year organizing events.

“Whether you work for one day or throughout the year, your time is critical to our success,” she said. “Each and every detail before, during and after an event are crucial to the success of every fund-raiser we have. The second group is you as team members, participants or community supporters. Without your help and financial support, we never could boast raising more than $2 million to enhance our health care.”

She also thanked the event partners of St. Vincent de Paul, J&L Tire and Tyson Prepared Foods, as well as all persons in attendance.

“I see a lot of familiar faces here,” she said. “To you, we'd like to say welcome back, it's great seeing you again. I also see a lot of new faces. To you, we'd like to give you a very warm welcome. Whatever your reason is for attending, please know that you are welcomed with open arms. We are delighted to have you join us. Our hope is that you feel the incredible warmth and kindness that is generated by the families and loved ones who have gathered here tonight and throughout the weekend.”

Endl said it was hard for her to believe the event was in its 10th year.

“In the blink of an eye the years have passed,” she said. “In nine years, the love, hope and support given by Tomorrow's Hope has touched so many lives. It's very important for us to make sure that you understand that whenever we say Tomorrow's Hope, we are talking about you. You are Tomorrow's Hope. We as organizers have created this celebration but you are the ones that are spreading the word of hope to others and also, you are the ones that are raising the dollars.”

Tomorrow's Hope's mission is to foster health-related research, education and support services for people touched by life-limiting illness. It has done this by supporting Children's Hospital of Milwaukee, Fort HealthCare, National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation, Rainbow Hospice Care, UW Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center in Madison and Watertown Area Health Services. In nine years the effort has raise a total of $2,419,836. Of that, it has given $2,157,504 to its recipients.

“That is an amazing 89 percent of the total dollars raised,” Endl said. “There was recently an article in the paper and they stated that in many cases only a small percent of the dollars raised by a fund-raiser actually go to the charity. Tomorrow's Hope is able to say that because we are an all-volunteer organization 89 percent of the dollars you have raised has gone to our recipients. We like to say we are making a ‘direct deposit' into your health care future.”