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2012 Pittsburgh VisionWalk

The rain held off long enough on Saturday, September 22 to give us a day to remember, with a record 408 participants and 30 teams. Our biggest feat was reaching goal BEFORE walk day on Friday, raising over $60,000 and counting.

Everyone enjoyed beautiful South Side Riverfront Park as we celebrated our fundraising efforts in support of the Foundation and the critical research it funds. Our teams and families did another amazing job of fundraising in our 5th year.

Thank you to our Walk Committee, with special thanks to our Walk Chairs, Cindy and Mark Taliani; Medical Chairs Dr. Joel S. Schuman, Director, Dr. Christin Sylvester, and Dr. Leanne Labriola from UPMC, Youth Chair Benjamin Peters, Community Outreach Chair Lauren Wally, and the rest of our Walk Committee ... Carl Koegler, Michele Mihalik and Bill Oknefski. Your leadership and dedication to the VisionWalk was the driving force behind our success.

We would also like to thank our sponsors: Our National Walk Partner, Walmart Vision Centers, Community Champion UMPC Eye Center, and Community Leaders, Associates in Ophthalmology, Everett & Hurite, and the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. A special thank you to the many community sponsors and in-kind donors who made it such a great day for so many.

We would like to give special recognition to the Delta Gammas from Carnegie Mellon and the Kohl's Department Store from Gibsonia for bringing top-notch volunteers. Thanks to Super Volunteers Sarah and Chris Lucas. Thank you as well to Iceburgh, mascot of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Scotty, the Carnegie Mellon mascot for volunteering their time to entertain everyone.

And finally, a HUGE thank you to all the Team Captains, walkers, and volunteers! Your support, dedication, and energy made the day a true success.

With you a Cure is in Sight!

We also want to highlight the top Pittsburgh VisionWalk teams and their captains. Congratulations on an amazing performance!

  • TEAM PAUL, Alix and Massy Paul ($13,500 and counting!)
  • UPMC EYE CENTER, Lauren Wally ($5,800)
  • EVERETT & HURITE, Kerry Smith ($4,000)
  • SIGHT-SAVING AVENGERS, Steph McCoy & Carl Koegler ($3,700)
  • BEN'S BUNCH, Bethany Peters ($3,300)
  • TEAM RITA, Bill Oknefski ($2,900)
  • THE EYES HAVE IT!, Cindy Taliani ($2,900)

Kohl's helped us select the Best T-Shirts: EVERETT & HURITE were the champs, with SIGHT-SAVING AVENGERS in a virtual dead heat.

And we also recognized the Largest Walk Team: UPMC EYE CENTER won with 55 walkers; TEAM PAUL had 38, and EVERETT & HURITE had 36 walkers for third place.

GREAT JOB EVERYONE!

Steve 
 

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