Cape Harbour is hosting the second annual “Angels Among Us” 5K Family Fun Walk.
The walk serves as a fund raiser for brain tumor research through the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University in North Carolina. Organizer Maggie Robison, a Cape Coral resident, started the walk two years ago when doctors discovered that her son had a brain tumor.
Although doctors told her son to go on chemotherapy, the family sought out the same surgeons at Duke University who operated on Sen. Ted Kennedy and they successfully removed the tumor, and she said he remains tumor free.
Robison and her friends later shared stories of relatives with brain tumors and decided to start the walk.
“I talked to other friends, one had a spouse who died from a brain tumor, one had a child who died from a brain tumor, so some of us got together and started this fund raiser,” she said.
Last year the walk raised $12,000 for research, all of which went to the university.
“One hundred percent of money goes to Duke University, we don’t keep anything,” said Robison.
Participants pay $25 for the walk at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 10, which includes a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and a free T-shirt, and the event is followed by silent and live auctions at Cape Harbour’s pavilion, both open to the public.
Some of the silent auction’s 55 pieces include jewelry, restaurant gift certificates and themed baskets, while the live auction offers attendees a chance to win 15 items such as multiple night stays at the Marina at Tarpon Point, Cape Harbour, or a condominium in New York City, as well as memberships to Anytime Fitness and pieces of art.
Robison said anyone from the community can attend the auctions.
So far 90 people have pre-registered for the walk but registration is open the morning of the event. Walkers will meet at the Cape Harbour Club on El Dorado Parkway, but the remainder of the event will be at the pavilion.
This year organizers are hoping to take in $20,000 but with the economy Robison said she isn’t sure how much will be raised.