Community Service Report      October 2015

Most of our counties have had their fall meetings and have reported.  These are some of the projects that are happening this fall.

• Collection of $160 for JUST FRIENDS Christmas sharing program. JUST FRIENDS helps those children in Geneses and Orleans counties that are in need of positive role models in their lives
• Collected items for the Comfort Care Hospice Home in Canandaigua
• Donated cookies for the Red Cross Blood Drive
• collected toys, books, and $160 for a christmas sharing project
• collected books for Little Red Bookshelves. These are placed in public places for children to receive reading materials for free.
• Starting a program called “Walking Club” for those interested in indoor walking with a group
• Collected art and office supplies for Boy Scout Camp Gorton
• Donated $100 to ARC Camp Rainbow
• Collected six boxes of canned and non=perishable food for the local food pantries
• Members knitted or crocheted 103 hats and 53 scarves for Operation Gratitude. They also collected small items and monetary donations to send in care packages to our troops overseas and recovering in hospitals

In addition, there are many people that are engaged in groups that actively reflect their interests.  In Monroe County, our largest group, there are many focus groups that allow for hobby and interest development.

We were also asked by NYSRTA to find out what community organizations our members are supporting as part of NYSRTA Walkers.     We found that many people walked, biked, swam, or did aerobics during the week.  Of the 20 people reporting, 11 walked 2-4 miles 2-3 times per week, 4 people walked 5-6 miles 3-5 times per week, and 5 people walked lengths from 1.5 to 5 miles daily.  I would suspect that this is an average for most of our members.

Finally, we asked our members to tell us about events that they had walked in or supported and about how much money was raised.   This is a list of the events that were reported.

Lymphoma/Leukemia Walk                              $   50

Alzheimer’s 5k run  (2 people)                             200

Relay for Life   (team)                                        1000

Margarita Walk 5k                                               100

Run in the Sun                                                        50

Glen Iris Walk and Run  5k                                    50

Golisano-Strong Hospital 5k                                  50

Erie Canal Walk                                                       5

Relay for Life (team of more than 5)              11,000

Relay for Life                                                       300

Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk (2)                700

Walk for Diabetes                                                  50

Alzheimer’s Walk                                                100

CROP Walk Against Hunger                               100

Walk for Cancer (team)                                        150

Tour de Cure (bike 16 miles)                                  50

Seneca County Relay for Life team (team )       2,500

Making Strides against Breast Cancer (team)       150

This makes a total of $16,500 raised in Central Western Zone.  Many of these Walks do not have a definite number of miles for each participant, but we can certainly see that we are a very active group.

This report will be submitted to Community Service Chair Pat Dietrich at the October Convention.  Keep walking!!!

Elaine Leasure      Central Western Zone       Community Service Ch