On the morning of Saturday, September 15th families and friends gathered at the North Park Boat House to support a very important cause, the 10th Annual Western Pennsylvania Walk, renamed the Unite for Bleeding Disorders Walk, the 9th Annual Run for Their Lives 5K, and the WPCNF’s 5th Semi-Annual Cornhole Tournament. All three of these events continue to be a resounding success with over $80,000 raised to support the bleeding disorders community in Western Pennsylvania.
This year’s highlights included appearances and a song and dance performance from Elsa, Belle, Tiana, and Super Girl from Angel’s From the Heart, a face painter, balloon artist, DJ, photo booth and a lot of special touches that made this day fun for the entire family. Thank you to: First Class Entertainment for the DJ and Photo Booth services, Cynthia Jewel from Face Paint Pittsburgh, Dragonfly Balloons, Kona Ice Pittsburgh, WISH 99.7 Street Treat Patrol, Star Wars characters from Garrison Carida 501st Legion, and the very talented princesses and super heroes from Angels from the Heart.
This day would not be possible without the support of our many team captains who rallied their runners and walkers and went over and beyond in all that they did. Thank you to all 34 of our Walk Teams! A special shout out to the teams who really went above and beyond and raised $1,000 or more:
Conor’s Clan – $9,823
Luke’s Incredible Lineup – $6,835
Rolling for Ryker – $3,645
Gino’s Gang – $2,405
Team Jaxson – $2,310
Kramer’s Gamers – $2,125
Papa’s Peeps – $1,813
Edinboro Fighting Scots – $1,780
Red ‘N Plenty – $1,560
Maxwell House – $1,370
Cameron’s Walking Sticks – $1,312
Clotting Cavaliers – $1,300
Charlotte’s Hemo Heroes- $1,200
Congratulations to our top fundraising team, Conor’s Clan, who raised the most money any team has ever raised for this event, an incredible $9,823! Thank you to the Team Captain of Conor’s Clan and this year’s Top Individual Fundraiser, Emily Nikithser, who individually raised an amazing $2,133. Emily joined the Hemophilia Walk in 2016 as the Team Captain of Conor’s Clan. In her first year as Team Captain, Conor’s Clan raised over $8,150, in her second year they raised over $8,640! This year, Emily did an incredible job holding two very successful fundraisers including Conor’s Clan’s Car Wash and Get Crafty with Conor’s Clan! On top of fundraising Emily is an active member and volunteers time at the Chapter. We are so incredibly thankful for Emily and her amazing team.
Thank you to this year’s Walk Chair, Tracy Sethman. Tracy has been an active member of the Chapter for many years and always goes above and beyond to help the Chapter in any way she can. She worked tirelessly putting together the majority of the baskets raffled off at the Walk. She also dedicated many hours going over the planning of the Walk offering many tips and suggestions to make this year’s walk successful. We are so thankful for all of Tracy’s hard work 
and dedication to making the world a better place for those with bleeding disorders.
Congratulations to the winner of the Awesome John Eyrolles Top Youth Fundraiser Award, Charlotte Rosborough, who raised an awesome $1,000! Charlotte’s Hemo Heroes held many fundraisers throughout to the year to help raise money for the Chapter including a Motorcycle/Car Poker Run and Candy Apple Sale at a Back to School Festival. We are so thankful for Charlotte and her Hemo Heroes!
Thank you to all of our Factor Club Members who have raised $500 or more for the Unite for Bleeding Disorders Walk! Medals were awarded to the following Factor Club Members:
Emily Nikithser of Conor’s Clan, Scott Miller of the Edinboro Fighting Scots, Tracy Sethman of Red ‘N Plenty, Gabbie Rose of the Clotting Cavaliers, Gwen Austin of the Clotting Cavaliers, Russell Werme of Conor’s Clan, Eileen Nikithser of Conor’s Clan, Steve Stern of Rolling for Ryker, Melinda Perry of Rolling for Ryker, Charlotte Rosborough of Charlotte’s Hemo Heroes, Maurice Prendergast of Conor’s Clan, Barbara O’Conner of Luke’s Incredible Lineup, Christen Herndon of Papa’s Peeps, Luke Miller of Luke’s Incredible Lineup, Cooper Aberegg of Cooper’s Troopers, Dawn Rotellini of Gino’s Gang, Michelle Perry of Rolling for Ryker, Sam Miller of Luke’s Incredible Lineup, Janet Barone of Cameron’s Walking Sticks, Lynda Maxwell of Maxwell House, Nikki Micholas of Kramer’s Gamers, Jen Werme of Conor’s Clan, Kelly Baker of Team Jaxson, Josh Baker of Team Jaxson, Gabriel Paraniuk of Gabriels Brusied but not Broken, and Kara Dornish of Kara’s Walkers.
This year’s event had fabulous t-shirts designed by many of our walk teams. Thank you to Jamie and Darin from Printeesweet for the printing of them, and for the many families that took time out to vote for their favorite t-shirt the day of our Walk. Congratulations to Rolling for Ryker as the official Team T-shirt Winner, raising nearly $200!
Thank you to Pro Bike + Run for the great job they did managing the Run for Their Lives 5k and to everyone who participated in the run. We are excited to announce that over $10,000 was raised from the Run and will stay local to support the members of WPCNHF.
Congratulations to the winners of the Run for Their Lives 5k!!
Top 3 Youth Finishers
1st Place: Kayli Yip
2nd Place: Kacey Yip
3rd Place: Dominik Gladish
Top 3 Female Finishers
1st Place: Tina Seech
2nd Place: Delaney McCarthy
3rd Place: Simone Knott
Top 3 Male Finishers
1st Place: Mike Sturtz
2nd Place: Mark Likoudis
3rd Place: Michael Frere
Thank you to Joe Castellano from Steel City Cornhole for running our 5th Semi-Annual Cornhole Tournament! The Cornhole Tournament brought in over $5,000 all of which will stay local to support individuals with bleeding disorders in Western PA. Congratulations to the winners of the tournament! First Place went to Trey and Adam – Trey Birchfield & Adam Hissner, second place went to Gators – Ricky Tyburski & Bernie George, and third place went to Double Js – Joe Castellano & Joey Castellano!
Lastly and most importantly, thank you to each and every one of you who came together with us to Unite for Bleeding Disorders. 100% of the money raised from the Walk, Run, and Cornhole Tournament stays local to promote patient advocacy and blood safety for everyone, support families in need by offering assistance with medical bills. travel, knee/elbow braces and other medical devices, provide medical ID jewelry to our members at no cost to them, provide local educational programming throughout the year, provide a support network to all our community members, and create and increase awareness about bleeding disorders.
Mark your calendar now for our upcoming fundraisers! Pittsburgh’s Bloody Bar Crawl will be taking place on Saturday, October 13th! Tickets are $30 and include an event t-shirt, a wristband for access to Bloody Mary drink specials, entry to 7 venues, access to raffles, prizes and contests at every stop, and a catered after-party at Foxtail! Get your ticket at give.classy.org/bloodybarcrawl.
Bowling for Bleeding Disorders will be taking place on Sunday, February 17th at Paradise Island Bowl. The cost is $25 and includes 3 hours of bowling, event t-shirt, shoe rental, pizza, wings, and unlimited soft drinks. Visit wpcnhf.org for more information.