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Mostly Cloudy East Rockaway event will support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital walk and run
A nine-day fundraiser to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is scheduled for ROK Health & Fitness from Sept. 8 through 16.
The event will be comprised of 12 classes taught by 13 different instructors. The classes include spinning, boxing, stretching, Pilates, a boot camp and others. All proceeds will go to benefit St. Jude. It will mark the fifth year that the fundraiser will be held at ROK Health & Fitness, which is at 510 Ocean Ave. in East Rockaway.
“It started out as a little event,” said Patti Mandel-Birnbaum, the organizer for the fundraiser. “Each year it’s grown. … It just took on a life of it’s own because the [gym] members got into it and really pulled everyone together for a common cause.”
In addition to the classes, Mandel-Birnbaum said many local businesses have provided enough donations for 62 raffles, which will be drawn on Sept. 16. When the ROK event first started five years ago, Mandel-Birnbaum said, there were only two classes and $2,000 was raised. Last year, she said, $9,000 went to St. Jude.
“The success of our annual St. Jude fundraiser here at ROK is the direct result of a great group of people here at the club coming together for a worthy cause,” said Mike Hawksby, one of the gym’s owners. “We have a continued group of employees, trainers and instructors that donate their efforts to helping Patti Birnbaum — a cherished ROK member herself — organize the events. With that comes the overwhelming generosity of the members and their donations to complete the circle and make this endeavor really worthwhile.”
“The success of any community are the people in that community and business working together for the common good,” he said. “ROK, along with its employees, has always been willing to contribute and partake in meaningful events such as St. Jude, and we commend all those whose efforts make events like this one possible.”
The ROK event is a primer for the St. Jude Walk/Run to End Childhood Cancer, which this year is scheduled for Sept. 23 at the Westfield Mall in Massapequa at 9 a.m. Mandel-Birnbaum is on the committee for the walk and run, and the money raised at ROK will go toward that event.
Mandel-Birnbaum said the ROK event has helped her become the top fundraiser for the walk and run for three straight years. She also expressed her gratitude to the gym’s owners for hosting the event and to everyone who donates and gets involved.
She added that her love for children is what led her to start working for St. Jude in addition to serving as a permanent substitute teacher for Lynbrook North Middle School.
“I do this just because I love children and I can do it,” she said, “and who wouldn’t want to help children with cancer?”
To donate to the cause, click here.
