2009 Walk for the Animals & Walktoberfest

Saturday, September 26, 2009 at the FirstEnergy Stadium- Home of the Reading Phillies!

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Thank You!

World's Latest Breaking Walk News! 12-16-09: We just got the greatest surprise from a Walk supporter who was not able to participate this year.  She and her corporation have just made a $20,000 donation in support of this year's Walk!  With one amazing gesture (and one mighty big check), she has changed this year's Walk from an awesomely fun but financially a little disappointing one to an awesomely fun one and financially among our best ever!  We now have raised nearly $115,000 in registrations, pledges and sponsor support, nearly matching last year's best ever year! 

Thanks to this wonderful anonymous donor and to everyone who to everyone who joined us for this year's Walk.  We had our largest crowd ever (over 3,500!), we had fantastic weather, and we had more fun and activities than ever before making it one of the largest and most successful animal welfare events in the region! 

We can't thank enough those businesses who sponsored the Walk and all the individuals and Packs who helped us do so much in the face of such adversity.  We really mean it when we say we can't do it without you.  We also mean it when we say every single dollar makes a difference.  We hope you will help us demolish our goal next year and won't let a stupid recession put a stop to the vital work for animals we are doing on your behalf.

Our thanks to the Top Packs and Walkers!

1st Place Pack: Perfect Pets, $7817.50

2nd Place Pack: Lucky Dogs, $6039.32

3rd Place Pack: The Reading Hospital Medical Group, $5762.60

Top Individual Walker!

Jackie Frie, $1,000

Additional Pack Awards!

Wacky Woof Award

Presented to the wackiest, silliest, most spirited Pack.

LUCKY DOGS

Best Interpretation of Pack Name Award

GUARDIAN ANGELS

Best Pack with a Message Award

Promoting canine and human bonds through

interactive play and agility challenges.

MINNER & CO.'S CANINES

Check out pictures from the Walk at SmugMug (and maybe buy a few to help us get a few dollars closer to our goal!).  Click here...

Attention:  Pre-registration ended Friday, September 18 at 5:00 PM!  AWWWW! Did you miss it?  Well, don't let that stop you.  There may be a few extra shirts if you register at the Walk.  Even if there aren't, you may join us for the Walk with or without registering- parking is free, walking is free, and the Walktoberfest is free.  Come on down and bring ten friends!  And go out and raise some funds for the animals!

Our new Walk yard signs have arrived!  Please stop by Reading or Douglassville and grab a few to put around town.  Help us make a final push to share the Walk with the world!  Want signs delivered?  Email dheckart@berkshumane.org.

Breaking News! (9-3-09): Schedule of events and exhibitor list updated.  Click here to jump...

2009 Walk Posters Now Available! Click here to download our new poster featuring art by Anne Leuck Feldhaus.  Please share them with family, friends, and coworkers! Warning, big 16 MB hi-rez file.

The Walk and Walktoberfest return to FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the R-Phils, in Reading, PA on Saturday, September 26, 2009!  There will be more fun, food, activities and awesomeness than ever before!  The Walk and Walktoberfest are different from other events- and by different, we mean better!

Click here to register online and click here to visit our event page at Firstgiving so you can start raising funds now!  Can we beat last year's amazing 37 States and three countries donating to the Walk?  Help us!  You might also consider having your company sponsor the Walk and put your corporate sponsorship and ad dollars where they will do your business good and do good for the animals!  HSBC events are big, fun, exciting, and growing!  Click here for the Walk brochure (big file warning, 20 MBhi-rez) and click here for the corporate sponsorship brochure. 

Walker Forms

Sponsor Pledge Form: Click here for a printable sponsor form

Sample Fundraising Letters:Click here for sample fundraising letters that you can customize

Create a PACK!

Get your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors together and form a PACK to get the team experience at the Walk! Walk PACKs have ranged in size from 2 - 52 people and have collected from $1000 to over $10,000 each! PACKS get cool perks like walk t-shirts with their PACK logo on the sleeve, signs with the Pack logo to carry during the walk, a banner with PACK logo to mark your cool tail-gaiting area, and cool giveaways, drinks and snacks!

PACK-et: Click here for complete PACK information

PACK Formation Form: Click here to Start a PACK

Sample Fundraising Letters: Click here for sample fundraising letters that you can customize

Want to Exhibit at the Walk?

Perhaps you would like to participate in the Walk for the Animals and Walktoberfest by being an Exhibitor. Last year over 50 organizations joined this fun-filled event and had a great day presenting their programs, services, and adoptable animals to thousands of visitors. The Expo area features animal rescue groups, animal welfare agencies, community non-profits, artists & crafters, animal-related businesses, and other businesses from the community! There is something for everyone. Non-Profit agencies can exhibit for free! To learn more about the exhibiting opportunities, see the Exhibitor Application below.

Exhibitor Application: Click here for Expo Application

The Walk for the Animals & Walktoberfest are back, bigger and better than ever and with a brand new location at FirstEnergy Stadium!  Join us and several thousand of our close friends for the biggest and faster growing (and most fun!) event to help animals in the region.

Join us with your friends, family, co-workers, and well behaved, leashed dogs, on Saturday, September 26, 2009, rain or shine, for a short, pleasant walk.  Then stay all day for the Walktoberfest!

Walktoberfest is free, open to the public, and features great music all day (see line up below), great food and drink, exhibits and demonstrations from over 50 vendors and non-profits, and fun canine contests.  There is something for everyone and of every age!  The Walk for the Animals didn't grow from 200 walkers five years ago to over 3,000 walkers last year for nothing.  It's a total blast!

Of course, the Walk may be a fun time, but it also helps raise funds for some very serious needs.  The funds raised through registration donations and walk pledges go to help thousands of homeless, abused and injured animals right here in Berks and surrounding counties.  Walk registration is only $20 for adults and $10 for kids 17 and under and includes a cool custom Walk shirt!

If you can do more, consider being one of our VIP Walkers this year.  For a $100 registration donations, you get registration and shirts for two Walkers, VIP parking, entry to a special VIP section of FirstEnergy Stadium with complimentary drinks, beer and wine bar, and buffet (hey, this is Berks County so you know the buffet will rock!) and you'll be listed as a VIP in the 2009 Walk program book!  Shirts plus food and drinks?  That's worth the extra right there!  Plus, your registration applies to your fundraising goal.

And you totally need to have a fundraising goal: everyone who raises $200 or more also gets their very own Walk sweatshirt! Be part of our 200/200 Challenge and help us get 200 new fundraisers committed to raising at least $200 in pledges. 

Walkers can also join together to have an even bigger impact by joining a Pack (team).  Last year just the top ten packs raised over one third of the over $100,000 total raised by the Walk.  With the tough economy this year, your individual fundraising efforts are even more important as many businesses have cut back on corporate sponsorship.

Remember, we are not subsidized by the government or national animal groups.  We raise our donations one dollar and one person at a time.  Just check out our vital programs and services like emergency medical care, Ani-Meals On Wheels, cruelty law enforcement, PetNet, adoption services, humane education and more to see just how much we do and how much we need your help.

But enough about the money, let's talk about the fun!  After the Walk you can join us at the small stage for this year's canine contests: Biggest, Littlest, Best Trick, Best Tailwagger, Best Bark/Howl, Best Dressed, Owner/Dog Look alike and more.  There's sure to be a category for you and your pet!

Then mosey on over to the Animal Expo to talk to some of the best animal welfare groups and non-profits around, plus shop with some great vendors.

In addition to all the Walk fun, Walktoberfest returns with Washington D.C. kings of ska & soul, The Pietasters, (shown here looking finely disreputable)will be featured!  These guys rock and have played and toured with such legends as James Brown and (be still my heart) Joe Strummer!  Plus, local faves, The Youngers, return to Walktoberfest, and Philadelphia's own Full Blown Cherry bring their quality rockabilly to the show! 

So, to recap:

• Please, register yourself and your family for the Walk today.
• Pretty please, if you have the extra bit of scratch, register yourself as a VIP Walker today.
• Pretty please with sugar on top, help us reach our 200/200 Challenge goal by committing to raise $200 or more in sponsorships for the animals.
• And don’t forget to sign up for our e-newsletter so you keep up to date with the 2009 Walk-O-Rama E-Newsletter!  Just click here.

Check out our 50 State Donor Challenge (right). Last year we received donations in support of Walkers from 37 States, Brazil, and two Canadian Provinces!  Can we do even better and pick up the remaining States plus Washington, D.C. (shouldn't some of that "stimulus" come the animals' way?).  How about the other five continents?   So far we only have one country and 1o States outside PA (AL, AZ, FL, MD, NC, NJ, NY, OH, SC, VA)

Some important details:

• The Walk for the Animals is a rain or shine event!
• The Walk path is stroller friendly.
• Stadium rules prohibit bringing outside food or drink into the stadium.  However, full food and beverage services will be available all day.
• Bring a blanket so you can spread out on the field for the music and activities!  Or you can catch the action from the stadium seats.
• The Walk Route is .8 or 1.3 miles (you have the choice of an extended route).
• There is LOADS of free parking.
• You do not need to register for the Walk to join us.  Walktoberfest is free and open to the public so bring lots of friends and family!
• All dogs MUST be leashed and please don't bring unfriendly dogs or dogs in heat.
• If you are planning to take advantage of adult beverages, BRING A PHOTO ID.
• Prepare to have fun.  Or else.
• And please accept our sincere thanks for helping us have a successful Walk for the Animals!

Partial Schedule of events and activities:

Registration, check in & t-shirt pick up begins: 10 AM

Walk & Walktoberfest start: 11:00 AM

Canine Contests begin: 12:30PM (please note new time)

• Best Dressed, Owner/Dog Look-A-Like, Best Trick, Smallest, Biggest, Best Tail Wagger, Best Bark/Howl and more.

Music Schedule

The Youngers: 11:00 AM

Full Blown Cherry: 12:30 PM

The Piestasters: 2:00 PM

Activities throughout the day:

Best Buy, Wyomissing Store

Complete Rock Band Setup- Everyone can play for free!

Spike’s Doggie Bar & Buffet presented by Godfrey’s Welcome to Dogdom

Vaccine & Microchip Clinic: Noon – 2:00 PM (dogs only, please).

Kid’s Play Area. Arts & Crafts presented by Hildebrandt Learning Center, Face2Face Facepainting, RPhils Phunland!

Adoptable Dogs! From 12-3PM Located in the Kid’s Play Area

Huge HSBC retail shop!

Partial list of exhibitors:

Adopt A Boxer Rescue

Another Chance 4 Horses

Awesome Dawgs

Bark for Life/Pottstown Relay for Life

Best Buy

Boko's Pet Sitting

Concern Professional Services

Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue

Easy Does It, Inc.

Face2Face Face Painting

French Bulldog Rescue Network

German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue of PA

Godfrey's Welcome to Dogdom

Hildebrandt Learning Centers, LLC

Home Again

Humane Society of Berks County

IM ABLE Foundation

Independent Representative Lisa Thenga, Silpada Designs

Invisible Fence of Reading

KidsPeace Foster Care & Community

Kindred Spirits Too Quilt Guild

Kylie's Canine Treats

Lehigh Valley Zoo

Metro Bank

New Spirit 4 Aussie Rescue

No Need For Speed Greyhound Adoption

Pampered Pets' Doggie Day Spa

Paws 2 Learn

Photo Pro Protraits

Prospectus Berco

Punk Rock Dogg

Russell Rescue

Save A Yorkie Rescue

Spike's Doggie Bar presented by Godfrey's Welcome to Dogdom

Sun Federal Credit Union

Sundance Vacations

Sunshine Blue Skies

The Reading Hospital Medical Group

Willow Street Pictures

But seriously folks, the thousands of animals we help every year-- animals who need broken legs mended, who need rescue from abuse and torture, who just need a safe haven while their owner gets out of the hospital, or need permanent new homes-- need you to help us.  Please join us for the Walk, please raise funds, please share posters and flyers with friends and please help us to make a difference in even more lives!