Walk to Remember on June 8 Supports Hospice Patients and their Families

Activities Planned to Commemorate 70th Anniversary of D-Day and Honor Veterans

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May 29, 2014, 04:00 ET

CLEVELAND, May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hospice of the Western Reserve's third annual Walk to Remember sponsored by First Merit Foundation takes place Sunday, June 8, 8 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland. Participants will walk to honor the memory of their loved ones while raising funds for services not covered by Medicare and private insurance, such as pediatric palliative care, the granting of patient wishes, art and music therapy, crisis response services in Northeast Ohio schools and community grief support groups. Registration ($20-adults, $60-families, $10–veterans, their family members and friends) includes full-day admission to the Zoo and Rainforest, t-shirts, live entertainment from InCahootz, beverages and snacks. Registration is available online at www.hospicewr.org/walk. The honorary chair is Monica Robins, senior health care correspondent, of WKYC-TV, Channel 3.

Veterans to be Honored

Several commemorative activities are planned to honor veterans of all wars and conflicts. A moment of silence will be observed prior to the start of the Walk in honor of the 70^th anniversary of D-Day and those who participated in the Normandy landing and liberation of Europe. The Boy Scouts will provide all 1,500 walkers with American flags, which will be held aloft during the first minute of the Walk as a symbol of unified support and appreciation for all veterans. Walkers will also have an opportunity to add a message of gratitude to a special veterans' appreciation banner.

Thomas Swope of Mentor, Ohio, who is the producer and narrator of the WELW-AM 1330 radio series, "Legacies: Stories from the Second World War," will be available at the event to speak to veterans and their families about the Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center. Swope, a VHP volunteer, will share information about how veterans can participate in the oral history program, which collects and preserves the firsthand interviews of America's wartime veterans. The Mentor resident participates in the project in memory of his father, Clarence Swope, a veteran of World War II, and has recorded and submitted the histories of more than 270 Northeast Ohio veterans to the Library of Congress. VHP accepts memoirs and collections of original photographs, letters, diaries, maps and other historical documents from World War I through current conflicts.

About Hospice of the Western Reserve

Hospice of the Western Reserve is a nationally acclaimed nonprofit agency providing comfort and emotional support to patients and their families. The agency provides palliative end-of-life care, caregiver support and bereavement services throughout the region, and cares for people in a variety of settings, including private residences, assisted living and retirement communities, nursing homes, at Ames Family Hospice House in Westlake and David Simpson Hospice House on Cleveland's east side. For more information, visit hospicewr.org, or call 800.707.8922.

SOURCE Hospice of the Western Reserve