ceremonies at benefit
County’s second Buddy Walk set for Sept. 22
Chris Burke
Actor Chris Burke will serve as master of
ceremonies at benefit
For the second year, Harvey and Loretta Slovin are heading up the National Down Syndrome Society Buddy Walk in Monmouth County, and are hoping for an even more successful outing than last year.
The Eatontown couple is working with Dale Sevastakis and Anna Able on preparations for the 1-mile walk that will be held between noon and 3 p.m. Sept. 22, at the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt.
A $10 fee is being charged for an individual registration, and a contribution of $25 covers a family of up to five. The proceeds, raised through pledges obtained by the participants, will go to the National Down Syndrome Society and the Family Resource Associates (FRA) in Shrewsbury, the Slovins said.
Loretta Slovin said FRA has an early intervention program for those with Down syndrome, and provides support to families with a member with the condition.
The Slovins reported that in their initial effort last year the walk attracted 450 people and raised $15,000.
"It was way beyond anything we had expected," Loretta said.
"We had been told the walks never make money in the first year; that they don’t even break even," Harvey added. "It was absolutely fantastic."
The Slovins expect this year’s walk to be larger than last year’s, with people already registered from Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties, and from Staten Island and Pennsylvania.
The couple said this year’s walk will feature Chris Burke, a television actor who has Down syndrome, who will entertain and serve as the master of ceremonies. Burke played Corky in the TV series "Life Goes On."
There also will be a band and a drum percussionist, they said. The event begins with registration from noon to 1 p.m., followed by the walk from 1-2 p.m. Snacks and entertainment will be served up between 2-3 p.m.
Indoor facilities will be available for inclement weather.
The Slovins said all participants in the walk will get a T-shirt and, for a contribution of $250 or more, their name will be put on the back of it.
Anyone interested in getting information on registering for the walk or in being a sponsor can call Loretta and Harvey Slovin at (732) 542-2763.
The Buddy Walk came to Monmouth County after Loretta, a speech and language specialist at the Old Mill School in Wall Township, who has since retired from teaching, and Sevastakis, a special education teacher with whom she worked, went to Washington, D.C., for a conference of the National Down Syndrome Society. Sevastakis is from Brielle.
"We heard about the Buddy Walk, and thought that it would be nice to do one," Loretta said. "We had several students with Down syndrome in the school I worked in."
They were joined in their planning by Able, who lives in Brick and has a child with Down syndrome.
Loretta said most of the pressure last year was from hoping they would make expenses. Harvey said there was a lot they didn’t know and FRA helped them.
"We needed insurance, which we didn’t realize we needed, so we used FRA’s insurance," Harvey explained. "We didn’t have a tax-exempt status, so we again turned to the FRA. It would have taken us six months to get our own. They do the bookkeeping also."
Loretta said Able told them that FRA was always there for her.
"She said it was nice to have a local organization to go to," she reported.
— Sherry Conohan