Dogs meet at the Walk and Wag for Willamette Valley Hospice. (Mary Louise VanNatta/Special to Salem Reporter)
Willamette Valley residents who visit Minto Brown Island Park Saturday afternoon will be greeted with vendors, goodie bags, door prizes and locals walking their dogs.
Salem’s ninth annual Walk-n-Wag, a fundraising event for Willamette Valley Hospice, will conclude with a celebration from 2-5 p.m. where residents can walk along the river and enjoy the festivities.
The hospice concluded its month-long online race on Sept. 15, with its online map having tracked every participants’ footsteps and fundraising. Participants linked their Fitbits and Apple Watches to the Charity Footprints App, which tracked the miles they reached.
This year’s Walk-n-Wag exceeded its $20,000 fundraising goal by around $350, according to the Charity Footprints website.
Money raised by Walk-n-Wag goes to Willamette Valley Hospice’s Pet Peace of Mind program, which helps hospice patients care for their pets and “support people in our community who are grieving through bereavement groups for all ages,” Judith Baynton, spokesperson for Willamette Valley Hospice, wrote in an email.
Registration at the park event costs $15.
-Ardeshir Tabrizian
