First annual Northwell Health ‘Wellness Walk at East End’ set for May 21

What better way to put some spring in your step and walk your way to health than to join Northwell Health’s first annual Walk for Wellness at East End fundraiser. At the same time participants are walking, they will be contributing to the health of the East End community.

Northwell Health has been holding a series of Wellness Walks all over Long Island over the past couple of weeks. Now there’s one set for the East End. One of the walk’s goals is to inspire individuals to get themselves on a path toward a healthier lifestyle. The other is to raise funds to go directly toward Peconic Bay Medical Center to build a heart center and cardiac catheterization facility.

The hospital is encouraging groups of people to join as individuals or teams who have supporters pledging money toward their participation. The Wellness Walk asks supporters to donate a flat amount of money in their team’s name. Teams try to raise as much money as possible for the hospital. Click here to register or to donate.

For every $100 a team or individual raises, the registration fee is waived and they earn a chance to win a Tanger shopping spree. For each $100 the team raises, they get another chance at the raffle. First prize for the raffle is $2500, second prize is $1500 and third prize is $500.

The day of the Wellness Walk is a celebration of all the fundraising work that has gone on in preparation for it. The hospital has planned many fun activities including a kids’ zone, musical entertainment, a Wellness Village, a photo booth, giveaways, a sponsor row – and it’s pet-friendly, so you can bring your furry friend to walk with your team.

The event will take place on May 21 at Tanger 2 Outlets. Registration runs between 8:30 and 10 a.m. The Walk ends at 1 p.m.

Northwell Health wants you to know that you can change a life – or better yet change thousands of lives [by taking] care of our own together. Funds you raise go directly to Peconic Bay Medical Center to two proposals:

• to build a heart center and cardiac catheterization facility, which will provide life-saving medical procedures for critical heart conditions because every second counts during a heart attack

• to enhance women’s wellness initiatives, which will offer coordinated and convenient local access to screening tests, procedures and imaging technology that are critical to preventing and managing disease regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.

So grab a friend or ten and get those feet in gear to start walking our community to wellness.