We Walk Together
A Spirited Employee Family Elevates Our Biggest Community Fundraiser
We Walk Together
A Spirited Employee Family Elevates Our Biggest Community Fundraiser
Cincinnati Walks for Kids isn’t just the medical center’s largest community fundraiser—it’s a living, breathing representation of our mission: We’re working together to improve child health and transform the delivery of care.
Year after year, the walk has changed and evolved. We’ve gathered in various favorite Cincinnati locales, like Coney Island and Great American Ballpark. We’ve gone through a change of name, and back again.
We’ve even persevered and pivoted to a virtual event amidst a global pandemic.
But our number-one goal has always remained the same—changing outcomes for kids in our care. And, for the 17th anniversary of the walk, we were bursting with hope, pride and gratitude when we were able to finally gather together once again for an in-person event.
Employees Connect to Our Mission
Thousands joined us and made this year’s walk day a huge success. Our patient-families, friends, colleagues and partners in the business community strolled along a beautiful new route in Cincinnati Children’s backyard that looped through the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.
And, as we see each and every year, a multitude of our employee family made a point of lacing up their sneakers and joining us on their Saturday morning off work to walk alongside the kids and families who rely on us.
“The walk really connects us to our mission, and it’s heartwarming to see our patients and families outside the hospital setting,” says Charlie Shaskus, manager in our Department of Information Services and captain of his employee team.
This year, Information Services saw the largest group participation in the last five years—with 75 total team members registered. They also exceeded their fundraising goal. And while the team doesn’t fundraise for a specific division as a whole, each individual member has the freedom to designate their funds to the area of the hospital that holds a special meaning to them—which has always been a key component of the walk.
“I’ve worked here for five years and have had the privilege of participating in the walk with my team each of those years,” Shaskus says. “It’s a joy to work with so many kind and compassionate people—and the walk also serves to reconnect co-workers in an informal setting.”
Celebrating in a Thriving Community
The starting line at Rockdale Academy was set against the backdrop of our newly opened Critical Care Building—a true testament of what we can accomplish for kids when we work together to form a community of support.
The new building provides 249 state-of-the-art private rooms for our most fragile and complex patients and transforms how families experience our care—and philanthropic support played a crucial role in making this vision a reality.
“I think it’s important for those of us who are not in patient care to come out and show that we support not just our patients and families, but also our caregiver colleagues in the great work that they do,” says Diane Wall, Human Resources consultant and co-captain of the HR walk team. “We also feel it’s important to be part of the community in which we serve, so it was great to be in Avondale, seeing the neighborhood take part in the fun.”
The Human Resources team had over 50 members register for the walk. And like the other participants who came to our in-person event, they enjoyed the beautiful weather, the stroll through the zoo, and the event-day festivities—including upbeat music, a fantastic DJ and family-friendly games.
“Being a part of the walk really drives home for us the reason we work here,” Wall says. “It’s such a fun, inspiring event to be part of.”
Thanks to Our Pediatric Rock Stars
Thanks to Information Services, Human Resources and every other member of our employee family who goes that extra mile to support the kids and families we serve by taking part in the walk, we had an amazing turnout this year.
As we continue our annual Cincinnati Walks for Kids tradition, we look forward to seeing our employees gather together with our community in celebration, making extra big strides to help improve care and advance scientific discovery.
Because of such compassion and dedication, we can keep improving our work to discover life-changing—and life-saving—treatments, train the pediatric rock stars of tomorrow and, most importantly, create a brighter future for kids.