What a day! The outpouring of support from those and forthose who are affected by Angelman Syndrome was overwhelming at this 
year's 2009 Angelman Syndrome National Walk-a-thon that took place in 24 locations across America this past Saturday May 16th, 2009.
Before I had even stepped out my door at 5:45am the morning of the walk we had already raised over $55,000 and had preregistered over 370 walkers for the Philadelphia area walk-a-thon which took place at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, NJ. We were over 50% of the way to our goal for fundraising and had exceed our attendance by more than 50 people for this year.
I knew it would be a great day!
The morning greeted us with a gentle mist but soon it dissipated into an overcast early after noon and finally some sun broke through near the end of the day. But it didn't stop the over 300 people who had wanted to come and show their support, meet other families, network and walk for a great cause. While listening to music provided a Marc Maiolino, a personal friend and regional manager at WaWa, we enjoyed sharing stories and gathering information from other families while sipping on hot coffee and snacking on Tasty Cakes, muffins, bagels and fresh fruit!
I saw many familiar faces and some new ones, including an Angelman family that had visited us all the way from Canada! They had been on vacation to the south of us and decided to stop in on their way home. We were excited to have them as well as families from Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey!
Our 5k walk around the beautiful Cooper Riverkicked off a little after 9am lead by some of our very own Angels, after everyone had returned we enjoyed some more refreshments including hot dogs chips and soft pretzels. Mitchell Caspert, Julie Waicus and I made some announcements about the upcoming Angelman Conference that will be held in Orlando, Fl in July and thanked the many people who had volunteered that day! We recognized John, Ann and Sebastian for their outstanding contributions both last year and this year, having risen more than any other family in our region!
Next we held a door prize giveaway of multiple gift cards and items that were donated from companies such as Barnes & Noble, WaWa, Toys r us, WalMart, Giant food stores and a basket of lotions and soaps from Bath & Body Works! Our gathering of Angels was made complete when we gathered all of them for a big group picture! Everyone had a great time!
The number of registrants rose from last year and so did he number of volunteers! Without them we could not make this happen, thanks to all who helped even in the smallest of ways! Thank you, thank you and thank you again for making this years walk such a success! And thanks to the staff at the Angelman Syndrome Foundation for all of their hard work and dedication that makes it possible for this to happen!
Our goal this year for Philadelphia was $80,000. By the end of the day we had just about reached that number. While there is still a chance for those who would like to donate to do so, I am hopeful that we will meet and succeed that number.
For more information about Angelman Syndrome and/or to make a donation visit www.angelman.orgor my personal fund-raising page
