Hospice WR sets date for Walk to Remember

The 11th annual Walk to Remember will take place June 12 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

As Hospice of the Western Reserve’s largest fundraiser of the year, the event seeks to bring the community together to celebrate the lives of loved ones, according to a news release. Registration is open at hospicewr.org/WTR and includes all-day admission to the Zoo and Rainforest and a commemorative Walk to Remember bottle holder.

Those who are unable to attend in person may still support the event through online donations.

Admission is $25 for adults and $12 for children ages 3-12. Wristbands are

required for admission and will be distributed walk day

beginning at 7:30 a.m. Registration will close at 12:30

p.m., and all participants must enter the zoo by 1 p.m. Teams may begin walking at 8 a.m.

Day of event registration will also be available.

Meg Shelling of Willoughby, who is a volunteer service manager at Hospice of the Western Reserve, will be participating in her seventh year. Her family’s walk team, Reese’s Pieces, is named in memory of her parents, Beth and Mike Reese.

“I feel blessed to be part of such a great agency,” Shelling said in the release. “We’re also walking for other family members and friends who have died, but it’s so much more than that. We’re coming together with hundreds of others who have lost loved ones themselves.”

Since 2012, Walk to Remember has raised more than $1.65 million to fund innovative services at the hospice not reimbursed through Medicare and private insurance, the release stated. These include a pediatric hospice team, customized programs for veterans, palliative care to manage symptoms earlier in a serious illness, children’s grief support camps, expressive therapies, volunteer end-of-life doula support, a Pet Peace of Mind program and more.