MECHANICSBURG, Ohio -- A hardy group of Ohio credit union executive "marchers" braved biting cold winds as well as enjoyed 80-degree temps to take part in a daily walkathon last week from Columbus to Cincinnati to benefit Children's Miracle Network.
By midweek, the "Marching Miles for Miracle Kids" contingent of some 50 CEOs and CU employees in tag-team formation had traversed about 45 miles from a Columbus children's hospital to this city in south central Ohio.
Along the way the CUs, aiming to attract media attention to CU awareness and community outreach, visited both CU branches and stopped in children's hospitals.
"There were 12 out marching today and they are in great spirits," said Jamie Crooks, a spokeswoman for the march campaign and calling Credit Union Times from an RV behind the walkers.
Crooks is also vice president of marketing for Ohio Healthcare Federal Credit Union of Dublin whose president/CEO Bill Butler organized the walkathon last fall as a means to draw attention to the CU cause.
Butler said he has been in close touch with CMN executives meeting last week in Orlando, Fla. mapping out new expansion for the charity as well as with representatives from the "Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run" in Washington, D.C. April 1 which witnessed hundreds of participating CEO executives and regulators also benefiting CMN.
The Ohio "Marching Miles" project began April 1 on the same day as the Cherry Run with the $828,000 raised in D.C. dwarfing the $52,000 in donations brought in from walkers and online. The Ohio "march" is slated to end April 19 at the Ohio Credit Union League annual convention in Cincinnati, a distance of 180 miles from Columbus. --jrubenscut@aol.com
