10th Annual Step Out for Hospice Walk Surpasses $100,000 Goal

SPRINGFIELD — When the final step was taken on a rainy May morning at Forest Park in Springfield, walkers participating in the 10th-anniversary Step Out for Hospice walk had raised a record $100,105 to benefit hospice services at the Baystate Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice.

“Our walkers are very loyal, and despite the rain they turned out to walk in memory of a loved one or friend who benefited from hospice services,” said Fidele Malloy, director of Development for Baystate Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice.

Malloy noted this year’s goal of $100,000 was set in honor of the walk’s 10th anniversary. Last year’s walk raised more than $80,000.

“We are very grateful to the many friends, volunteers, and staff of hospice who made this year’s walk our biggest success ever,” added Ruth Odgren, president of Baystate Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice.

More than 200 walkers stepped out this year on behalf of the supportive services hospice brings to patients and their families at the end of life’s journey.

Step Out for Hospice volunteer Martha McCarthy once again created this year’s memory flag. “The fabric flag was available at the walk for participants to sign their names or write a remembrance of someone for whom they were walking,” Malloy said.

The flag will be on display in the Baystate Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice offices on Maple Street in Springfield, where it will honor the memory of patients cared for over the past year.

Joining gold sponsor Colebrook Realty Services Inc. this year were silver sponsors Health New England, Reeds Landing, the Dennis Group LLC, Kinsley Power Systems, Heritage Hall Campus, and TD Banknorth.

“I want to especially applaud the leadership, commitment, and generosity of Jack and Colette Dill, who once again chaired this year’s Step Out for Hospice,” said Odgren. The husband-and-wife team are from Colebrook.