Walk and Roll for Hope Saturday

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

A walk and roll Saturday will help fundraise for Hope Community Resources, a state-wide organization dedicated to improving quality of life for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Corrie Davis, director of community support services for Hope in Kodiak, says the group offers a number of services.

“We do operate a few group homes. We also do in-home support, supported living for adults. We provide what’s called a day habilitation service, which means that we take people out in the community, we join community events, we go to grocery stores and restaurants and just help people live a normal, meaningful, and fulfilling life.”

While participants walked and rolled the Kodiak College loop last year, the upcoming event will be at the Baranof track, and Davis says they’re looking for a bigger crowd this year.

“For the walk and roll last year, we unfortunately only had about forty to fifty people. We’re really always hoping for a few more than that. And we’re hoping this year, with our new location, we may have a better turnout. It’s a nice, easy, smooth walk. We’re going to be in an area where there’s plenty of parking, and the best part is, after the walk, we are having a barbecue.”

The walk and roll starts at 10:00 a.m. with registration beginning at 9:30 a.m. Davis says people may walk, run, or roll – in the case of those with wheelchairs – but bicycles and skateboards are prohibited on the Baranof track. And, as she said, there will be a barbecue. Participants can head over to the Hope office at around 11:45 a.m. to grab lunch.

Davis says the money they raise Saturday will stay in Kodiak and go towards non-traditional uses such as supporting families in emergency situations and funding trips. She says donations from last year’s walk and roll went towards a wheelchair accessible van for the Hope children’s program, and that van will arrive in Kodiak in the next few weeks.