The Annual Walk for Wellness (WFW) is quickly approaching! The Walk for Wellness is the PUSD Wellness Center’s largest annual fundraiser. The walks will take place August 21 – 27, with a kick-off event August 21 from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. at the vase in Piedmont Park. The Grubb Co is generously sponsoring a boba truck at the kick off event for the first 200 student walkers to sign up. Participants can register or sign up to sponsor the event HERE.
This year the WFW is co-chaired by Martha Joerger and Lindsay Thomasson along with Wellness Center Support Committee Co-Chairs Sarah Meyjes and Laurie Misra. They are aiming to exceed the $50,000 the WFW raised last year while also increasing community, and particularly student, awareness of the Wellness Center and its services. Thus far they have over 50 family and corporate sponsors who have donated between $500 – $10,000 each and will receive 6-16 tickets each to the WFW. Sponsor tickets combined with individual ticket sales mean that there is potential for nearly 400 walkers to join in the WFW at some point during the week which is a significant increase from past years.
The Walk for Wellness is a community-wide event; parents, teachers, students, and other community members who are supportive of student mental health services are encouraged to participate. All registered participants will receive a list of community walks that will take place throughout the week; participants are also encouraged to grab a friend, head out for a stroll, and reconnect.
The Wellness Center provides confidential, free counseling services to all Piedmont middle and high school students, including IEP-based counseling services. Learn more here. The Wellness Center helps students manage common emotional and social challenges including stress, depression, grief, family or friendship conflicts, and substance use concerns. Approximately one-third of high school and one-quarter of middle school students receive counseling at the Wellness Center each year. We are incredibly fortunate to have these services available to students on our campuses.
A huge thank you to the event’s family and corporate sponsors including: Piedmont Parents Network, Anian & Adrienne, Hillside View Orthodontics. Sarah Abel and Julie Gardner, Machaon Diagnostics, The Grubb Co., East Bay Pediatrics, Bay Design & Build, Jim Gardner Construction Inc., Heafey Baum Group, Loyal Blue Counseling, Brayer Electric, Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., The Cooper Group Real Estate, Market Oakland, Clif Bar and Harmless Harvest.
