Thursday, October 1, 2026
On Sept. 11 and 12, ROK Health & Fitness in East Rockaway hosted a fundraiser to benefit the 4th annual St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Walk/ Run that will be held on Sept. 26 at Bethpage State Park. Members and non-members joined in.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is dedicated to the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other deadly diseases. The hospital is funded by donations.
Classes that were held throughout the weekend included, on Friday: Zumba by Andrea; a 75-minute Power Spin by Marni; a 90-minute Power Spin by Tommy. On Saturday: Bella Forma Barre Pilates by Carla; TRX Boxing Fusion by Pat and Megan; 90-minute Power Spin by Tommy, and Alignment Yoga by Shazi.
Each class was a special donation-only class. Thirty raffles were sold that were donated from restaurants, salon and merchants from East Rockaway and neighboring towns.
“Our event was a huge success!” said Event Coordinator Patti Mandel-Birnbaum. “We raised $4,775 for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital — and my personal grand total thus far is $5,375.”
Birnbaum said that is was truly a community event, “with everyone from the instructors, to the desk staff, to the members and Mike and especially [director of operations] Krista Risolo, who helped make this successful. We came together as a community to raise awareness for the St Jude Walk/Run Sept. 26 at Bethpage Park … it was truly a heartwarming experience for all involved, and I’m proud to be a part of the ROK family. Each year we are getting bigger and better!’ Birnbaum is also a committee member of the walkathon and captain of Team “ROK On.”
Lynbrook Bagels donated a breakfast to the fitness events, and they donate at the walkathon as well. “We at Lynbrook Bagels are honored to help raise money and give back to the community with feeding all the wonderful people that donated to this event,” said owner Deena Clancy.
“My company is honored to participate in raising money for such a noble charity as St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital,” said Bella Forma Barre Pilates owner Carla Sacken.
Andrea Wool, who taught Zumba, said, “It was an honor to participate in this year’s fundraiser for such a great cause.”
“Being in the health and fitness field, I am honored to help out for such a worthy cause,” said Marnie Greenfield, who taught one of the spin classes.
Mike Hawksby co-owner of ROK, said that they only word he could use to describe this event was “amazing.”
“Our members, staff and community all reached out to make this event a tremendous success and we can’t thank them all enough for that,” he said.
Pat Millilo, one of the instructors who taught TRX/Boxing,” said, “It was an honor and privilege to be a part of this fundraising event.”
“It truly goes to show the greatness of our ROK community,” added Risolo, “and how blessed we are to have these individuals as part of our ROK family.”
