A bright-eyed and perky group assembled early on the morning of July 4th to participate in the first ever ACB Walk/Run. We ended up with 47 on-site participants and 11 virtual walkers back home.
The following individuals and teams brought in over $1,000 each: the team of Brenda and Dan Dillon; team of Michael and Peggy Garrett; Sharon Lovering; Ron Milliman; John Ross; and Cindy Van Winkle. The individual bringing in the most in pledges with $2,365 was Ron Milliman. The team raising the most in pledges was Brenda and Dan Dillon with $4,370. The top fund-raising affiliate, with a total of seven participants and an impressive contribution of $5,425, was the Tennessee Council of the Blind.
The trophy for the youngest participant went to Sara Conrad, a scholarship winner from Michigan. The trophy for oldest participant was awarded to Patricia Beattie. Trophies were presented to two first-place winners. First to cross the finish line as a runner was Doug Powell and finishing first in a racing chair was Juan Carlos Gill. Although pledges are still coming in, at the time of this writing, we have raised over $24,000.
A special thanks to our sponsors: Regal Entertainment Group, a silver sponsor at $2,500; and to Iams for providing dog treats to all walk participants. Huge thanks to the Track Shack Foundation and to Event Marketing and Management, Inc. Natalie and Emma, you are the best! We are grateful for the opportunity this afforded ACB. We deeply appreciate the great volunteers who served as sighted guides. And last, but certainly not least, thanks to every single participant and contributor. The event was a great success because of all of you!
One final and fervent thank-you to the members of the walk/run committee: Rebecca Bridges, Berl Colley, Brenda Dillon, Ron Milliman, Ken Stewart, Lane Waters and Dena Wilson. In spite of the doubts and discouragement, you were faithfully committed and gave ongoing support! This was truly a great team effort!