Great Turnout For Meals On Wheels 5K Walk

With the holidays just around the corner an event was held at Rockland Lake State Park to kick-off the season of giving. This past Sunday was Meals on Wheels' annual Thanksgiving charity walk and scores of participants braved the chilly temperatures and took part in the 5-kilometer trot, which is about 3.2 miles.

"Around Thanksgiving people seem really eager to participate in events like this, especially events about food and feeding people," said President and CEO Barbara Kohlhausen. "We have help from students from Clarkstown South High School and the (Girl Scout) Brownies; and parents and grandparents. It's becoming a tradition."

The charity walk raised money for all of the important programs that Meals on Wheels provides Rockland residents, including their homebound meal delivery program, senior centers, and adult daycare centers.

"The money we use from this [charity walk] we use for all the holiday meals, not just Thanksgiving. We also use this money for Hanukah and Christmas. We do whatever we can to make them festive. Last year we raised $8,000, this year we're hoping to raise $9,000 or $10,000."

As already noted Meals on Wheels of Rockland County was also assisted in their hosting of the charity walk by high school students from Clarkstown South. The school even has a campus club that works with Meals on Wheels called SAM, Students Assisting Meals.

"It's great to see student activity supporting Meals on Wheels," said Mike Levy, one of the students from SAM.

The Brownies also voiced their enthusiasm.

"Meals on Wheels is a wonderful program. There are a lot of seniors who benefit from it and the Brownies are delighted to help," said Catherine Vecchione, assistant coordinator of the troop.

It is the coming together of the community as a whole that really makes this event, and subsequently, the programs that Meals on Wheels furnishes, possible. With the holiday season upon us, the need for greater awareness of Rockland County's less fortunate or homebound is particularly important, a point not lost on the organization's employees.

"I think it's great that the community comes out during Thanksgiving to support Meals on Wheels," said Lynn Jacobs, Development Associate for the charity.

The bright, beautiful, albeit a tad chilly, morning served as the perfect fall backdrop to a fun event that energized participants in more ways than one.

"This is my third walk and it's fun and it's great. We all need to stay healthy so that we can become seniors and benefit from Meals on Wheels one day," said participant Donna Stevens with a laugh.

When the event concluded awards were given out to those participants who distinguished themselves in the walk. The honorees included:

Rachel Harris of Team Clarkstown South, who was the overall winner with a time of 23 minutes and 17 seconds; Harris, a member of Students Assisting Meals, was also the winner of the girls' division.

Noah Parks of Team Parks took first place in the Boys' Division with a time of 27 minutes and 49 seconds.

Ryan Parks of Team Parks took second place in the Boys' Division with a time of 27 minutes and 49.4 seconds.

An honorable mention award went to Even Horowitz of Team Horowitz who came in with a time of 38 minutes and 2 seconds.

Patch's very own Kim Tran and Robert Heinemann were the winners of the Adult Division.

All in all, the walk was an absolutely fantastic way to spend a wonderful Sunday morning and raise money for a very worthy cause.