More than 100 recovery supporters walked through downtown Kittanning in September 2010. The group is looking for more participation this Saturday.
by Jonathan Weaver
A local awareness and support group will walk the streets of Kittanning tomorrow to promote recovery.
Recovery supporters, professionals and community residents will walk through Downtown Kittanning during the 4th Annual Recovery Walk. The walk is sponsored and supported by The Advocacy Group (TAG).
As of September 15, 66 people registered for the walk. TAG Treasurer Mike Krafick estimated that approximately 66 would also show up to register or walk tomorrow.
Approximately 100 participated in the walk - which is held during the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month of September - in 2010.
Krafick, a Certified Recovery Specialist within the Armstrong/Indiana/Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission, said group members are dedicated to walking the streets in the yearly event.
“Usually our attendance around the summer time picks up because people want to get involved and help with the planning for the walk,” Krafick said. “The whole point of this is to raise awareness, so we want people to see us, take notice and ask questions.”
Krafick laid out the walk route.
“We start at Riverfront Park on the Sheetz side and walk the whole way down Water Street till you get to St. Mary’s Church, then we cut up to the Armstrong Trail and walk along the trail until we get to Market Street; and then our way back down to the pavilion,” Krafick said. “It’s about a two-mile route – takes between 40 minutes and one hour.”
Participants often bring pets and children to the walk, which prompted the group to create some family-friendly activities at the pavilion, including face-painting, a dunking booth and bringing back a DJ.
Pre-registered participants paid $4 less than registered participants tomorrow, but Krafick urged residents who want to get involved not to get discouraged.
“The registration fee is just for the T-shirt. Anybody can show up and walk – there’s no cost for that,” Krafick said. “We encourage people to come and if they don’t have the money, they can just come and hang out. There’s plenty of stuff to do that’s free.”
Activities begin at noon and the group starts walking at 2PM.
T-shirts will also be available on Saturday for $10 for those who wish not to register.
The group advertised locally on billboards as well as online and on Facebook to spread the word. Krafick said he has received interest calls from the West Virginia state border up to the New York state line, including residents in Franklin, New Bethlehem and Washington County.
The recent inclusion of Clarion County into the commission’s name also prompted some new faces to register for tomorrow.
“I think it makes it a much bigger group. We’re going to have some people coming down from Clarion County that maybe never would’ve heard of this before, Krafick said.
“We look at it as the more, the merrier, and the more people we get there, the more we can raise awareness that people do get better and people do recover from drug and alcohol problems,” Krafick continued.
The group made up of both professionals and those in recovery meets the 1st Wednesday of each month at ARC Manor in Kittanning and has a core group of approximately one dozen.
Advocates have been seen in the past picking up trash along the Armstrong Trail and washing cars in West Kittanning this past July to help support the walk financially.