Photo courtesy of Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community 5k

By Erika  Fleegle

Highmark hosted its annual Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community 5k Saturday, May 16, at Stage AE on the North Shore. Troy Hill’s Sarah Heinz House participated to benefit its summer camps for local youth. In addition to the Sarah Heinz House, over 70 local nonprofit organizations benefited from funds raised by the event.

There were more than 9,000 participants and this year’s walk, and $375,000 was raised for the Pittsburgh event, according to event organizers. The Pittsburgh amount goes towards the $1 million goal for all of the walk events across Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Del.

Since 2003, the annual walk has raised close to $4 million for nonprofit organizations in the Pittsburgh area. Last year, more than $13,000 was raised for the Sarah Heinz House alone, including a matching donation from a Sarah Heinz alumnus. This year, the same alumnus plans to match the total donations up to $10,000. In order to give local youth a summer to remember, the Sarah Heinz House has set a goal of $20,000 to be put toward camp activities and improvements.