Like us on Facebook www.recoverywalks.org Follow us on TwitterTHANK YOU for Your Support,Participation and Celebration! What a joy it brought to our hearts to see more than 20,000 supporters of recovery together at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia on September 21st. We all contributed greatly to chipping away at that nasty word STIGMA. Everyone walked boldly and proudly, some carrying signs to let everyone know the number of hours, weeks, months, years or decades of recovery they had achieved, and others held banners to commemorate loved ones lost to the disease of addiction. We walked through the most historic and most visited areas of Philadelphia happily showing the public that there is hope for those suffering with the disease of addiction. There is recovery.And it is happening now. In keeping with SAMHSA's theme for Recovery Month this year, PRO-ACT believes there are multiple pathways to recovery. None of them is wrong. Whatever recovery pathway works for us and puts smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts is the correct pathway for us. These young men are with The Haven at College, the first college-level sober residence just opened in Philadelphia.Honor Guard As the sun rose high over the river, 159 Honor Guard members collected their purple ribbons and buttons and wrote their number of years in recovery on them. People with 10 or more years in recovery participate as Honor Guard members and lead the Walk. This year they ranged from 10 to 43 years, two people having more than 40 years. And atotal of 2,648 years of recovery guided the Walk through the Old City and back. The Phillie Phanatic and the Mummers added some color, amusement, and fun music as everyone, including those in wheelchairs, family dogs, and babies in strollers enjoyed the day. And after returning back to Penn's Landing, several mascots taught the younger children how to do some line dancing. Stage Program Among the officials participating in the post-Walk Program was Benjamin B. Tucker from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Mr. Tucker is shown here presenting a Proclamation from the White House to Beverly Haberle, Program Director of PRO-ACT. During the Program, PRO-ACT recognized several legislators and others whose work has directly or indirectly supported the recovery community through support for Medicaid expansion, restoration of General Assistance and prevention of predatory Pay Day Lending legislation. Also making a presentation was Dr. Arthur Evans, Director of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, the Presenting Sponsor of the Walk.Dr. Evans is shown here along the walk route leading his team. And there was plenty of entertainment to the delight of everyone. PRO-ACT thanks the DL & the Zone Band for playing throughout the morning as well as for the Recovery Idol Competition. The two finalists of the Competition, Mark Dixon and Ronald Davis, both performed following which Mark Dixon was announced as the winner of Recovery Idol 2013. We cannot close without giving a shout-out to the SEAMAAC Hip Hop Heritage Dancers who performed on stage and made many of us feel we need to do more stretching and limbering up but even then might not be able to match their talents and skills.Teams Right up to the end, there was tight competition among the teams for the two prizes for Team Captains. The prize for the team that raised the most in donations went to Team Captain Christina Reice, whose team 12 Step Fighters raised $2,445 for PRO-ACT. Christina will receive the Phillies Packet, which includes her throwing out the first pitch next year at Recovery Night at the Baseball Game. Here's a photo of Jackie Ferrer preparing to throw out the first ball this year because her team won this prize last year. A $100 gift card was given to the Team Captain of NJ Buses, Rob Lightfoot from the New Jersey Prevention Network for having the largest team of 468 members. To all of our Sponsors, we say a huge thank you.Without them, this Walk truly could not have happened.Please support them.Major sponsors appear below but to see the complete list of Walk sponsors, click here
No comments:
Post a Comment