May The Fourth Be With You -- Walk for Wellness House

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" . . . Actually it was today and right here in Hinsdale, IL that the Wellness House Walk was held.  The theme was Star Wars and it was titled "May the Fourth Be With You" (held on May 4th, get it?)  This annual walk is to raise funds so that all the programs held at Wellness House for cancer patients and their families can continue to offer emotional, physical and spiritual support at absolutely no cost to them.  At The Courtyard, all of our profits go toward this effort.  But once a year, the walk is held and the community, neighbors, corporate and local businesses, as well as friends and family of people who are fighting cancer or who have lost someone they loved because of the disease, all come out for the 5K run, 3K walk or just a walk around the block.

We are the "Courtyard Cruisers" and are all volunteers at our shop or their families.  This year we set a goal of $2,500 in hopes of stimulating donations not only from our volunteers, their families and friends but also from our valued and devoted customers and boy did it work!  We not only reached our goal but we surpassed it and raised $4,061.50 all of which goes to Wellness House.
Thank you everyone!!!

We had a booth as did other businesses from our area including LaGrange Memorial Hospital and Adventist Hospital of Hinsdale that are joining forces and building a large cancer center for their patients, McDonald's, radio station 104.3 K*HITS, and others who passed out coffee, bottled water, blueberry muffins, yogurt, apple slices and bananas.  Face painting for the children, balloons to sign and send up for a friend or loved one and a large memory board to leave messages for those who lost the battle and words of encouragement for those fighting or who have won their fight.

People of all ages -- some in strollers, some in wheelchairs, "eWolkers", runners, dogs walking with their families, generations of the same family, friends joining together, even characters from Star Wars -- all came to support this wonderful event and help keep Wellness House the place of hope that it has become to all who walk in the front door.

Cancer walk -- WALK WITH US

May the Fourth be with you!  Ewoks unite!  Star Wars will be this years theme for the Wellness House annual walk for cancer that will be held Sunday, May 4th, 2014.  The event consists of a 3K walk or a 5K run beginning at Wellness House at 8:00 am.  You can be a "Ewoker" or a "Erunner". Some of us walk a few blocks and then take a short-cut back to the beginning and some of us just gather for the camaraderie.  We come with our children, grandchildren (many in strollers or on their bikes or big-wheels), family, the family dog and friends to celebrate those who have won their fight with cancer, support those who are currently going through treatment or to memorialize those who have lost their battle.  There is a "memory board" where you can write a note to a loved one and a balloon release signed with the names of those we love, fight for or want to remember held at the conclusion of the run.  WALK WITH US.

This year the Courtyard Advisory Board has pledged to raise $2,500 to help support the programs that Wellness House offers to those with cancer and their families.  Each of our board members pledged to donate $100 to help us reach our goal.  We are also encouraging our customers and all of our volunteers to participate either by joining our team, the "Courtyard Cruisers" and walking with us or by donating with cash, check or credit card.  There is a container at the register in the shop for your donations and a light saber to help show how close we are to reaching our goal.  It is our hope that some of our loyal customers and friends will set up their own walk page online and get their friends to sponsor them for this activity.  Each person entering will sign up when they give the $30 registration fee, get a T-shirt to wear during the walk and be able to list their sponsors.  This can be done at The Courtyard or online at the Wellness House website  http://www.wellnesshouse.org  or  http://www.chicagoevents.com/event.cfm?eid=275

We encourage all of you to join in the fun and efforts to support a very worthy cause.  There will be several commercial booths including one for The Courtyard.  Please stop by and say hello and allow us to thank you for your support.  And think of all those living with cancer who will be helped by your financial and emotional gift.  WALK WITH US!