Unlike last year when the air was heavy with humidity, we arrived at Cantiague Park nice and early for set up and were greeted with a beautiful sunny and clear day. Lisa and Fred #2 set up registration…
…while Serena arranged the goodie bags. This year’s goodie bags were extremely special. The New York Mets bags were donated by the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation. The first 15 walkers who registered and paid their registration fee received a New York Mets gym bag. The remainder of the walkers received a New York Mets beach tote. Each bag contained the walker’s walk t-shirt, a bottle of water, a coupon envelope filled our sponsor’s business cards as well as the business cards of key supporters (Nicole Giannakakis—Avon representative and Fred K’s Cancer Executive Director, Sylvia Nasser—The Fit Fem, Pat Darienzo—Magician Extraordinaire, and Kimberly Konzack-Fazio—Arbonne Representative), a bottle of Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard with SPF 30 donated by Nicole Giannakakis, a Biotene pack that included an oral rinse and toothpaste donated by the Oral Cancer Foundation, Oral Cancer Foundation maroon silicone bracelets donated by the Oral Cancer Foundation, a Traveling Baseball Babes bumper sticker, and assorted printed materials.
Since it was still early and our photographer, Antonio Cruz hadn’t arrived yet, Nicole snapped some photos of the progress.
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| In this photo: Constantine Giannakakis |
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| In this photo: Constantine Giannakakis |
At registration, we arranged for Fred K’s Cancer’s Treasurer and Secretary, Mary Gerolimatos (aka: Mamadukes) and Roberta Hirsch, to man the fort during the walk to assist late registrants and sell handmade New York Yankees and New York Mets-colored beaded bracelets, tootsie pops, raffle tickets, and Fred K’s Cancer silicone bracelets.
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| In this photo: Constantine Giannakakis |
The turnout was even better than last year! Over 30 walkers plus lots of kiddies came out to walk in support of the Freds!
Everyone immediately put on their snazzy walk t-shirts. Shirts were created by CustomInk.com (thank you, Stephanie Kerr!) and generously sponsored by Ambelos Construction, The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar, Omega Speaker Systems, Sergio Britto Contracting, and Theodoros Papageorgiou, CPA.
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| In this photo: Sylvia Nasser |
A few enthusiastic individuals chose to run the event…
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| In this photo: Tara Salvati, Kristy Morgan, Lisa Leone, Lauren Wadalavage, Ashley Azzata, and Christine Salerno |
…but most of us walked at our own pace.
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| In this photo: Sylvia Nasser, Cindy Brown, Tasha Riley, Jessica Topper, Jared Ahne, Pat Darienzo, Lisa Leone, Fred Ahne, Vincent Sordillo, and bringing up the rear, Fred Leone |
Fred #2’s wife, Margaret Leone, son-in-law, Mike Morgan, and granddaughter, Sophia Morgan all walk in support of Fred #2.
Sophia is pictured here with Fred #2 just prior to the walk beginning. Fred #2 had been diagnosed with oral cancer in 2003.
Drew Kane, Max Einsidler, and Sarah Einsidler walk in memory of Max’s grandfather and Sarah’s father, Barry Einsidler who’d been diagnosed with oral cancer in 2004.
Sandy Einsidler and Amy DeVito also walk in memory of Sandy’s husband and Amy’s father, Barry.
Jared Ahne and his girlfriend, Jessica Topper (pictured here with Pat Darienzo, Fred Ahne, Jenn Doncer, and Vincent Sordillo) walk in support of Fred #1, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2008.
Jenn Doncer and her friend, Vincent Sordillo walk in support of Jenn’s father, Michael
Doncer, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in February of this year.
After running the entire trail, Kristy Morgan and Tara Salvati joined the Leones and Morgans in walking for Kristy’s father, Fred #2.
Maryann Catalano, Lauren Fischer, and Jack Fischer (Shane Fischer pictured in stroller) all also walk in support of Fred #2.
Nicole and her charming son, Constantine walk for Constantine’s father, Angelo Giannakakis, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2004.
And of course, the reason why we work so hard to make this walk a successful event, The Freds:
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| In this photo: Fred Ahne, Serena Ahne, Lisa Leone, and Fred Leone |
Heading into the walk, we had raised a total of $2,000 with a goal of $3,000. After the walk, it was time to total up the dollars we raised on the day between raffle sales, merchandise sales, and donations. We surpassed our goal by $400!! Sophia and Constantine helped us to color in the thermometer.
Ta da!
Post Event Details: We accepted donations for the 2011 event through July 31st. Immediately following the walk, we continued to receive donations and held a garage sale in which every single dollar made was donated to Fred K’s Cancer. The garage sale alone made $550! We also received the check from Nicole’s 2nd Annual Avon Online Fundraising Event. The event exceeded last year’s amount by $100, raising $140! On July 31st, we ended up with a total of $4,000 raised that was split between the Oral Cancer Foundation and the Sean Kimerling Testicular Foundation.
To view more photos of the event, check out Fred K’s Cancer’s Facebook page.
