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Recovery Walks! 2011

PRO-ACT and The Council are extremely grateful to the many sponsors, individuals, organizations, and 400 volunteers who contributed to making Recovery Walks! 2011 a success. Named by Faces & Voices Rally for Recovery as their national hub, the Walk on September 24 broke records with 15,000 people celebrating recovery in Philadelphia. To see a selection of photos from the 2011 Walk, please click here

An Honor Guard of 377, representing 6,244 years of recovery, proudly led the Walk out of Penn’s Landing and through the heart of historic Philadelphia. Entertainment along the route included the Caution Drill Team, the Mummers Quaker City String Band, and the popular local mascot, The Temple Owl.

The number, size, and organization of the record-breaking 198 teams was admirable. Dressed in team t-shirts, grandparents, parents, young adults, kids, babies in strollers, treatment professionals, and friends, walked in unison for their common goal. Of the 198 teams represented, the largest (Fresh Start) had 253 members; 4 other teams had more than 200; and 8 teams had more than 100!.

The stage program was emceed fluidly by Laurie Dhue (a veteran broadcast journalist based in New York), who kept the program rolling with special guest speakers including Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; Pamela Hyde, J.D., Administrator of SAMHSA; Westley H. Clark, M.D., Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, SAMHSA; and Arthur Evans, Ph.D., Director of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. In addition, a special presentation was made to Sandra Huffman, who had walked from Florida to the Walk. A special moment of silence honored the late Betty Ford, a pioneer in the field of recovery, who helped so many achieve recovery.

Entertainment highlights were the final competition of The Recovery Idol and RockStar SuperStar. The two Recovery Idol finalists, Deidre Atkinson and Bill Pressley, were declared joint winners after crowd-pleasing performances. And nobody could resist “rock’n out” to the music of the Rockstar Superstar Project.

PRO-ACT volunteers and staff worked tirelessly in many of the booths. In Voter Registration, 113 people were newly registered to vote, and in the Advocacy Booth, 467 people completed postcards to their senators stating their opposition to HB934 (online emails were also sent). That bill would require a government-produced and current photo ID in order for individuals to vote. Volunteers were equally busy in the Family Education Program booth, where 51 people signed up to receive more detailed information

A special thank you for help and support goes to our sponsors and partners not only from Pennsylvania, but New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Without them, Recovery Walks! 2011 could not have happened. For a complete list of them, please click here.