Fun Walk fundraiser to benefit Easter Seals

Published 11:23 pm Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Easter Seals Disability Services will hold a fundraiser Fun Walk later this month. 

The walk will be at Memorial Stadium from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday, April 29. A $20 donation is requested. Those who donate at least $20 will be given a hot dog plate and a T-shirt. In addition to the walk, children’s games and activities will be available.

“We dedicate ourselves to serving the public and providing free services for those who would normally have to travel to Montgomery or Birmingham,” said administrative assistant and The Special Preschool Education Center (SPEC) director Pam White. “We do these fundraisers, fun walks and things to help our center stay in business in a local area.”

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White said the walk is one of Easter Seal’s biggest fundraisers. She said the fundraiser generates anywhere from $5,000 to $16,000 each year. This year’s goal is $10,000. So far, little over $4,000 has been raised.

“We don’t send the funds anywhere else. It stays right here with us,” she said.

Easter Seals has been providing free services to people with disabilities in Dallas, Wilcox, Lowndes, Chilton, Marengo and Perry counties for nearly 60 years. The money will be used to help fund programs such as SPEC, workforce development, work adjustment programs and others.

Since the services are free, the center depends on the fundraisers to help keep local offices running.

This year the walk will be honoring Mary Nell Mayo.

She was once a client of the center and has retired after working at the center for 36 years.

White said Mayo has always been the best fundraiser for the center, generally collecting between $8,000 and $10,000 each year.

“She has always outraised more money than the rest of us,” White said.

Donations are tax deductible because the center is a nonprofit. Check donations can be made to Easter Seals West Central Alabama.

For more information about the walk, contact White at 872-8741, extension 202 or Jones at 872-8421, extension 232.