Walk4Friendship to return next month

WEST BLOOMFIELD — In what has become a summer tradition in West Bloomfield, the Walk4Friendship event is scheduled to return for its 19th year Sept. 1.

According to a press release, it is the township’s largest summer event. One element that may appeal to some is the opportunity to combine entertainment with a good cause.

The event is free to participate in and is hosted by the Friendship Circle, a nonprofit that provides special needs services to children and young adults, and their families.

The Walk4Friendship event has proven that it knows how to draw a crowd. Bassie Shemtov, the organization’s co-founder and director, estimated that last year it was attended by 2, 000-3,000 people.

The event is the nonprofit’s largest fundraiser, and last year was its most successful to date. According to Shemtov, more than $900,000 was raised, which broke a record.

Riding off of that success, this year’s sights have been set higher than ever, with an announced goal of $1 million.

“It’s the first year that our goal is a million dollars, so it’s a biggie,” Shemtov said. “It was a feeling like, ‘We’ve gotta do this. … Our community needs us, and we have to figure it out.’”

The Walk4Friendship event has come a long way since its inception, as Shemtov recalled that in its first year, approximately $100,000 was raised.

“And that was a surprise,” she said. “We had no idea that the walk would be this successful.”

West Bloomfield resident Lori Ellis has been a part of many of the nonprofit’s walks. She estimated that she has participated in approximately 10 of them.

“I love to be in that environment that is helpful with others, and this event brings in so much money to help kids with special needs,” Ellis said. “I think it’s so rewarding and I look forward to it.”

Ellis is a retired speech pathologist teacher for Royal Oak Schools. She recalled that she used to encourage students to attend.

Seeing familiar faces is one of the highlights of attending.

“I get to see a lot of my friends and, sometimes, some old students of mine,” Ellis said.

The community gathering together is what Shemtov cited as her favorite part of the Walk4Friendship event.

“You really could tell when people want to be somewhere and when they’re just doing you a favor,” she said. “I believe that people that come to the walk want to be a part of it, and it shows. So when you see adults and kids with special needs and families and grandparents (and) everybody is there together, you know that this is a community that wants to be here for each other, genuinely; not in a superficial way.”

That sentiment ties in with this year’s theme, which is “Brighter Together.”

“When we are together, we are brighter,” Shemtov said. “When we bring people with special needs in our life, we’re the ones that are brighter together. So it really all comes together.”

Activities, games, live entertainment, food, interactive booths, a scavenger hunt with hidden messages throughout the walk, face painting, a petting zoo and rides are all slated to be part of the event.

Part of the entertainment will feature Nissim Black, an American-Israeli hip-hop artist.

Aside from raising funds, the Walk4Friendship event can also help the nonprofit in another big way.

“It is letting our community-at-large know that we are here, and that we are here with a mission in mind of how to view people with special needs, which is, thank God, something that has really been successful as well – letting people know that people with special needs have a lot to offer us and have lessons to teach us that we can’t learn anywhere else,” Shemtov said. “And that’s something that’s really important to us, is beyond the obvious of fundraising, really sharing that message and getting the community to kind of rally around it. … Every person that a person with special needs affects, it’s constantly an excitement. That never dims, that feeling, because it’s so powerful, what they could accomplish for us when we bring them into our life.”

Ellis shared a couple of the positives of the event.

“The parents are grateful and it helps to bring in so much funding,” she said.

Shemtov is keenly aware of what the support of people like Ellis means to the Friendship Circle’s mission.

“Being there for our families, the only way all of that could happen is when we have support from our community,” Shemtov said. “We are so grateful and we know that what we have to do, we’ll be able to accomplish.”

Registration opens at 10:30 a.m., the opening ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m. and the walk is scheduled for 11:45 a.m.

The walk is approximately 1.7 miles, beginning at the Friendship Circle’s Farber Center and ending at the nonprofit’s Meer Center.

For those who prefer not to walk, a shuttle will be available approximately 15 minutes after the walk starts to transport individuals to the Meer Center.

Parking will be available at Temple Israel, located at 5725 Walnut Lake Road.

Drake and Walnut Lake roads will be closed off 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

For more information about the event, visit walk4friendship.com.

According to the site, in order to access Temple Israel parking, individuals must be in the parking lot by 11:15 a.m.

For information about the mental-health services and vocational training offered by the Friendship Circle, visit friendshipcircle.org.