By: James Pruitt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Rain dampened the turnout for the CPC Women’s Health Resource 30th annual Steps for Life Walk-a-thon fundraising event.
Cloudy skies and a constant drizzle battled with the excitement of the volunteers and staff and participants at MacDonald-Ruff Ice Arena in Bryan Saturday. The event featured a color run of 5K and 1 mile challenges.
CPC is a social service Christian agency that helps women who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy situation, Director Mark Pittman said. The agency provides free and confidential services for the men and women who come through the door, he said.
CPC has four centers: Bryan, Defiance, Napoleon and Wauseon.
“We are providing that come along side counseling help in the process,” Pittman said. “We are a medical facility, meaning that we have a licensed physician in the state of Ohio who oversees what it is that we do.”
There are nurses on staff who provided limited obstetrical ultrasounds to verify pregnancies, Pittman said. The ultrasounds can determine if the pregnancy is viable, he said.
“When they choose life, we want to help them by providing along the way materials important to them like diapers and cribs is what we provide free to them,” Pittman said.
The women who take advantage of the free material take classes on what it means to be a good parent. By attending the free classes, the women can earn point to acquire other items in the CPC store, he said.
In addition, the agency offers free and Confidential services and testing of STIs and an educational component in the classroom called Project Respect.
The sex education component teaches an abstinence perspective, Pittman said.
The Walk-a-thon is one of two major fundraisers for the agency. It is designed to bring an awareness to the community of the agency.
“Because everything we provide to our clients is free, we need the funding sources to provide that service,” Pittman said.
The Walk-a-thon has people obtaining sponsorships from individuals and churches to raise the money. An added feature is the color run, which Pittman said was to draw in a younger crowd.
“It is a way to mix it up,” Pittman said.
The event usually brings in about $30,000 a year, Pittman said.
Saturday, there was no crowd and many tables went without people perusing the wares. There was some face-painting and childrens’ games, but while the color run was taking place, the arena was a ghost town.
It is unknown if the walk-a-thon or Diaper Dash for babies took place.
James Pruitt may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com