What's Going On: 2025 East Falls Fest, Honoring the Legacy of AIDS Walk Philly, Philadelphia Lupus Loop & Walk to End Lupus

Segment 1: East Falls Development Corporation — Building Community and Connection Today we’re spotlighting one of Philadelphia’s most vibrant and scenic neighborhoods — East Falls. Joining us is Michelle Feldman, Executive Director of the East Falls Development Corporation (EFDC). Since 2021, Michelle has led initiatives that support small businesses, strengthen community partnerships, and enhance neighborhood infrastructure. She’s here to share details about the upcoming 2025 East Falls Fest, happening Saturday, October 18, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Ridge Avenue and Midvale Avenue in East Falls. This annual neighborhood celebration will feature live music all day (in partnership with The Fallser Club), a beer garden by Wissahickon Brewing, food and drinks from local favorites like Taqueria Cresta, Le Bus, and Thunder Mug Café, plus family-friendly activities including rowing demos and circus arts. It’s a day of community, culture, and connection along the Schuylkill River.
🌐 Website: discovereastfalls.org
📸 Instagram: @DiscoverEastFalls
📘 Facebook: @EFDCorp

Segment 2: Action Wellness — Honoring the Legacy of AIDS Walk Philly
We’re joined by Evelyn Torres, Executive Director of Action Wellness, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of people living with and affected by chronic illnesses, including HIV. Evelyn shares updates on Action Wellness’s ongoing work to promote health and wellness, and details about their upcoming special event — a retrospective celebration honoring the legacy of AIDS Walk Philly and the AIDS Fund, happening Sunday, October 19, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the William Way Community Center (1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA). Guests are encouraged to make a $25 suggested donation, which includes one entry into a raffle for two tickets to GayBINGO! The celebration will honor decades of advocacy, remembrance, and community impact.
 🌐 Website: actionwellness.org
📲 Socials: Instagram / Facebook / Bluesky / LinkedIn — @actionwellnessphl
📅 Event Info & RSVP: actionwellness.org/join-us/special-events/aids-walk-retrospective
Segment 3: Lupus Foundation of America — Walk to End Lupus Now
Today, we’re talking about lupus — a chronic autoimmune disease that affects millions worldwide. Joining us are Shawn Triggs, Regional Director for the Pennsylvania Delaware Valley Region at the Lupus Foundation of America, and Lynnai Jay, a lupus warrior, volunteer ambassador, and support group facilitator. They share valuable information about lupus awareness, local resources, and how the community can come together for the Philadelphia Lupus Loop & Walk to End Lupus Now, happening at the Navy Yard on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Registration opens at 8:00 AM, with opening ceremonies at 9:30 AM, followed by a 5K run/walk.
🌐 Website: lupus.org/pdv
📸 Instagram: @lfa_pdvregion
📘 Facebook: Lupus Foundation of America, Pennsylvania Delaware Valley Region

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Welcome to what's going on a show about
making a difference in our lives and our communities. I'm
Lorraine Ballard. Morrow, we'll be speaking with Mary Evelyn Torres
from Action Wellness to talk about the AIDS Walk Philly
Retrospective celebration. We'll also hear about the Loopusloop and Walk
to End Loopus. But first today we're spotlighting one of
Philadelphia's most vibrant and scenic neighborhoods, East Falls. Joining us

(00:23):
is Michelle Feldman, executive director of the East Falls Development Corporation.
She's here to tell us about an upcoming twenty twenty
five East Falls Fest and also some other exciting projects
impacting the future of East Falls. Always a pleasure, Michelle.
So for those who are not familiar, because you can
drive down Kelly Drive every day and look over and

(00:43):
not really know exactly what East Falls has to offer,
we pass it by, you're encouraging us to take that
turn right into East Falls and what would we find there.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, first, thank you so much for having me, and
I'm so excited to chat about East Falls and all
the wonderful things that our neighborhood has to offer. And
also are a coming fest on October eighteenth. But if
you take that turn on Kelly Drive and head up
towards Ridge and Midvale and Conrad Street, you will find
an amazing assortment of small businesses, and you will find

(01:16):
an amazing variety of different services, whether they be health
and fitness or bars and restaurants, clothing, toy libraries, and
experience experiences such as hula hooping, rock climbing, gins, glass blowing,
you name it, and we've got it somewhere in East Falls.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh, glass blowing. I'll have to talk about that later
with you off microphone. But anyway, let's talk about the
twenty twenty five East Fall Fest. Where is it happening,
when's it happening, and what can people look forward to
this year?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
It is happening. Mark your calendars for Saturday, October eighteenth,
from eleven am to five pm, and you can expect
a full day of experiences, family friendly activities, shopping, a
full live stage of music from the Falls Or Club,
our local performance venue, and that live stage will be
going all day from eleven to five. And then you

(02:12):
can actually stay after for a show at the club
at seven thirty pm for a Philly music week is
going to keep going past five pm, and we are
going to have food from our local restaurants such as Labus,
a beer garden from with Hick and Brewing, and all
sorts of artisans and crafters. We're also going to have

(02:33):
some great experiences, like the Circus Arts is coming out
to do some experiences with folks and attendees. We'll get
to take part and do some circus arts with folks
three times that day. So if you head to our
website our instagram, you'll see the whole schedule and all
of the times and some fitness classes and so if
you want to do some hip hop dance or get

(02:53):
on some large bouncy boots, I would encourage coming out
for that too.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Now.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
The East Falls Development Corporation is doing a lot of
important projects to uplift that neighborhood, including flood mitigation because
you know the flooding on Kelly Drive, lighting and business development.
I wonder if you can tell us give us a
brief idea of some of the efforts that you're engaged
in right now.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, So the East Falls Development Corporation is laser focused
on lifting up and building up our business districts that
includes both Rigim Midvale and Conrad Street. And we do
that in a few different ways, so one on one
business technical assistance, marketing and promotion, so help you for
thank you for helping with that, as well as convening

(03:39):
our business association. And we also do neighborhood planning that
leads to capital investments. So to sort of reach back
to the flooding issue, it is sadly prevalent in our neighborhood.
The s Google River is i think both our greatest asset.
It is beautiful and it's fun to go out on
the water. It's fun to recorate by the way water,

(04:00):
to just get a sense and a moment of peace
by the water. But also we know during hurricane season
it is problematic. Climate change is just going to make
sort of violent weather events more frequent and more impactful.
So last year we actually completed a flood mitigation and
preparation study with the Maniac Development Corporation. We were able

(04:22):
to identify a whole range of potential interventions that would
protect our neighborhood commercial corridor, which is right on the river.
We're really excited to keep working towards implementing a number
of the interventions in that toolkit, and we've been working
with some great local partners. We're actually part of the
city's Climate Resilience Plan process, so we're hoping that some

(04:44):
of what's been identified as solutions will be will be
sort of lifted up through city government. So we're excited
about that as well. And part of what we try
to do is make sure that we are working with
our business owners on both the micro one on one
level and then creating them macro environment as well the
larger ecosystem for a thriving business district.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, there's so much to offer. The bus is my
go to restaurant for lunches there with friends and for colleagues,
so that's my go to and it's just such a
beautiful setting. As you mentioned, the river is right there,
and on a beautiful day like we have been having
some wonderful days, a walk down that area by East

(05:25):
Falls is absolutely delightful. Now, if listeners are interested in
finding out more about what's happening in East Falls, whether
they're a business that is looking for support, or if
they're individuals outside of the neighborhood who want to check
out the twenty twenty five East Falls Fest. Where do
they go?

Speaker 2 (05:44):
So and you can head to Discovereastfalls dot org slash Fallsfest,
or you can follow us on Instagram at discover east
Falls and sort of going back to ways to recreate
along the river. About four years ago we completed construction
with a local Parks Friends group the East Falls River Landing,
which is an eighty eight compliant boat launch, so non

(06:07):
motorized boating, fishing, paddling, recreation of all of all sorts.
And we have one of our businesses, BLJ Rowing, which
is a rowing studio and club. We're going to help
folks get out on the water on the eighteenes. So
that's another great opportunity to come and look and see
all of the very unique things that East Falls has
to offer.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
Well, check it out. East Falls is a growing and
vibrant neighborhood with so many things to experience, whether it's
going out to dinner or taking advantage of the many
different artisans that are there. Michelle Feldman, Executive director of
East Falls Development Corporation, thank you so much for joining
us today.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
You're listening to what's going on.

Speaker 4 (06:55):
Today.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
We're joined by Evelyn Torres, executive director of Action, wellnessization
dedicated to improving the lives of people living with and
affected by chronic illnesses, including HIV. We'll be talking about
their ongoing work to promote health and wellness, and also
an upcoming special event, a retrospective celebration of the Aid's
Walk legacy, happening on October nineteenth, which also includes a

(07:20):
raffle for gay bingo and tickets. Evelyn, it's so great
to talk to you, but it's also a very sad
moment for me because I have been covering the HIV
epidemic for decades, and I have seen the evolution of
this disease over the course of many many years, and

(07:40):
certainly have been involved in the AIDS Walk for also
very many decades, I think, pretty much since the very
beginning of this event. Well, the AIDS Walk is no longer,
but there is a wonderful celebration that will be marking
the end of the AIDS Walk and also reflecting on
the progress that has been made in this HIV epidemic,

(08:04):
but also the future of our organizing around this event.
So Evelyn tell us a little bit first about Action
Wellness and what you do.

Speaker 5 (08:16):
Sure So Action Wellness started in nineteen eighty six by
WEO were dedicated volunteers in response to the age crisis,
and today we serve two thousand clients a year and
it is primarily individuals and their families living with HIV
or at risk of HIV. And so we have a
dedicated staff of eighty employees. And again we were started

(08:40):
by volunteers and volunteers are still very critical to our mission.
So we have about one hundred and fifty volunteers who
also contribute to our mission as well, and we provide
a myriad of services free of charge, again to support
people living with HIV and do that risk of HIV.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
For so many years I had in my calendar the
AIDS Walk, extraordinary event that brought tens of thousands of
people to the museum area over the many decades, and
just to be able to have this opportunity to commune
with people who are either living with HIV or have
lost individuals to HIV, it was always a very moving

(09:19):
experience and also a very uplifting one because the idea
of it was to address the misconceptions about HIV and AIDS,
but also to provide support and an understanding of what
the disease was and to support the aim of the
AIDE Fund, which has provided so much assistance to so

(09:42):
many people over these many years. And I'm getting a
little emotional here. I wonder if.

Speaker 5 (09:48):
It's a sad Yes.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yes, So it October marks this special retrospective celebrating the
legacy of the AIDE Walk Philly. So tell us more
about why it's ending and what this celebration means.

Speaker 5 (10:03):
Sure, So a little bit about the Age Walk, as
you know, it started in nineteen eighty seven, and it
was really at that point by the LGBTQ plus communities
volunteers coming together to provide really a megaphone right at
a time when people weren't talking about HIV, at a
time when people didn't know what HIV was all about.
And so during its thirty eight years, it has really

(10:24):
been a critical component of raising not only raising funds
for people with HIV, but providing, like you say, that megaphone,
that education and in part due to the AIDE Walk,
we are where we're at and now we are talking
about ending an epidemic that was not the case when
we first started the AHE Walk people were dying within
six months of being diagnosed. We were all losing loved ones.

(10:48):
And so again because of the Age Walk and many
other things that came together, we're now talking about ending epidemic. Unfortunately,
we made the decision to end the walk because of
rising costs, especially around and again I'm not faulting the city.
The city has to do what it has to do,
but rising costs. You can imagine what it takes to

(11:10):
close down the areas around the art museum, police presence
and so forth. Also the changing commitment of sponsors, the sponsors,
especially corporate sponsors have gone in a different direction. Donors
as well, and just the declining walkers, the declining people
that were coming. And you've been involved in it many
years and you could see, I mean we went from

(11:32):
thousands of people at the onset right to really last year,
I think it was a thousand people who walked. So again,
for all those decisions and also the capacity, and so
when the Age Fund ended, right, they gifted us two events,
which was Gay Bingo, the monthly events that we still
continue to do, and the Age Walk. But again it

(11:52):
was a very difficult decision and we had to because
of the rising costs and all the reasons I talked about,
and also so I think conversely, it really is looking
at a different time now right for HIV because of
the medical advances, because of the funding we've had in
the past. And that doesn't mean we don't need more
funding and we don't need donations to continue to provide

(12:15):
our critical work here, but we are talking about ending
an epidemic, which is it's forty years. That's kind of
mind boggling. Like you, I've been involved with HIV for many,
many years. I started as a case manager. I started
because I lost loved ones families to HIV and to
see the progress we've made it's incredible, and so we

(12:38):
will continue to fundings. It's because we need fundrating to
end to epidemic. We're not there yet, but I think
we'll just do it in different ways, recognizing that we're
in a different point a moment in time.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah. Well, as you mentioned, when we first started being
active in this space, HIV and age was invariably fatal disease,
and we certainly lost so many people to this epidemic,
and at the time and for many years after that,

(13:10):
the idea that we might actually end this epidemic was inconceivable.
We had no hope or idea. We certainly were going
to push for it, push for a cure, push for vaccinations,
push for treatments, but at the end of the day,
I think because of the severity of the disease, I
think there was no idea that there would be a

(13:31):
light at the end of that very, very long tunnel.
But in fact, we have made progress and we are
really on the verge of being able to end this epidemic.
There's still much to go, and certainly we still experienced
stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, and that's something that we

(13:53):
need to still continue to push for, which is understanding
what HIV is and what one needs to do in
order to get to zero, and you can you can
get to zero infections. There is so much out there available.
It makes me so excited to even talk about it.
But it is a sad moment because it was such
a moving event and looking at the HIV timeline, that

(14:17):
was a physical row of placards that line the Art
Museum that basically outline the history of this epidemic. And
now this is an epidemic that could potentially end, but
we need to support those who, like you, are working
to help those who are living with HIV, look for

(14:41):
those who are looking to prevent infection. And that's what
Action Wellness is able to do. And you're continuing to
do with fundraisers like gay Bingo, which continues, which I
have to say that I have celebrated many birthdays at
gay Bingo and it's an absolutely fantastic event. Tell us
about the specific event that's happening on October nineteenth. Tell

(15:04):
us where it's going to happen, happen, what we can
expect for this event, and what we can do to
support it.

Speaker 5 (15:10):
Sure, So, this event, which we are calling the retrospective
of the Age Walk Age Walk Retrospective is taking place
on the nineteenth Sunday, on the day the walk would
have taken place, and we're having it at William Way,
which we're very excited about because again the walk started
at Penguin Place, which the genesis of William Way by

(15:32):
community members getting together and wanting to do something. So
we're happy to be able to do this at William Way.
And so what's going to happen is this is really
allowing a space for anybody who's been involved or not
or not involved in the walk in any way to
come get together in community to kind of commemorate the

(15:52):
ones we've lost, commemorate the walk, remember the Walk. There
will be items from past events on this play. William
Way's staff is going to be having guided towards. It's
a wonderful space, so if people haven't been in it
out of itself, William Waite is a wonderful space that
we'll be having guided tours. We'll be having light refreshments,
and also we're having having speakers as well, like yourself,

(16:15):
will be speaking to their experience and their time at
the Age Block. And so again it's going to be
free for the public. So we are asking for a
twenty five dollars donation to your point. If you do that,
you get an entry and can get two tickets to
our gay Bingo events. Just a little bit of our
gay Bingo events. They're monthly events. They're not your grandma's
bingo either, are themed bingos that are over the top

(16:39):
with performances. We have our bingo verifying divas. We have
our two hostesses with the most Stelladora and Carlo attentant
and so it's a lot of fun and I think
that also is a space of joy of resilience that
people can go to to and celebrate. And again to
your point, we are at the end, but we still

(17:01):
need help, right, We still need funding, We still need
assistance and not only Action Wants but all the organizations
that do great work here in the city with people
with HIV. And so that's another way to contribute against
the events at William Way thirteen to fifteenth Bruce. But
what you can do too is go to wwactionwannis dot org,

(17:24):
go to our special events page and that will give
you information not only about the retrospective but also our
gay Bigo events. And again we're asking people to wear
their old garb if they had any, If they have
the Age Walk t shirts, please wear those if you
have them. We're red if you don't, and if you don't,
come as you are. But again we're very excited. We'll

(17:45):
be from ten to two. We will have a section
where speakers who speak to the walk and also some
light refreshments as well and guided to its. So we're
excited about it and I think it's the right place
to happen. So we're thanks to Darius MacLean, the executive
director of William Waite's for allowing us to be there.

Speaker 6 (18:01):
And his staff.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
Well, I look forward to being there. I look forward
to speaking and sharing my own thoughts about this extraordinary
event that happened every year usually I guess on the
third Sunday in October. And a special shout out to
Rob Riikert, who was the executive director of the AIDS Fund,

(18:23):
who really was behind the Aid's Walk, helping to organize
it and continued on through the many decades and also
towards the end did something very innovative I thought, which
was to take the money raised from the Aid's Walk
and provide micro grants to individuals who needed the simple

(18:43):
things a mattress so they could sleep, or a refrigerator,
a small refrigerator so they could store their medications, the
kinds of things that people needed in order to stay
healthy and to stay on their medication. And Rob Reiker,
what an innovative guy he is and was for this
organization and for this movement.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
Evelyn.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
Once again, if people want more information, what is that website?
One more time?

Speaker 5 (19:10):
So yes, I'll give you that, but I also want
to do a shout out to Rob riker I mean,
he was an incredible individual. He's an incredible executive director.
He was innovative in terms of we still do these
his legacy. We still do these small micro grants that
make such a difference to the people of people with HIV,
lives of people with HIV. So thank you to Rob,

(19:31):
and thank you to a staff I don't know how
I did it, staff of three. I always say, you know,
we've seen the magic, we've seen behind the magic, and
so again, thank you to them. And so if you're interested,
you can go to www. Actionwannas dot org and go
to our special events page. Again, if you can make
a donation, that's great, but if you can't, we welcome

(19:52):
you to come again. Wear your garb, I'll come and
join us. I think it's going to be especially but
we're also encouraging people just to our please so that
we have a sense of how many people are going
to come to the center. We're excited, sad, but yet
I think some joy here.

Speaker 6 (20:08):
To be had.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
Yes, it's going to be a celebration of the AIDS
Walk legacy happening October nineteenth, and I think it's a
wonderful testimony to the power of volunteerism, the power of
community activism, because it really started just like Action Wellness did,
But the AIDS Walk started with a bunch of volunteers
who said, we need to stand up, we need to

(20:30):
speak out, and we need to raise awareness about HIV
and AIDS and raise money to help end this plague,
this disease, this epidemic. And it looks like because of
the efforts of the individuals like Rob Reichert and so
many people Action Wellness, all the folks out there who've
advocated for people living with HIV and AIDS, this is

(20:51):
where we are now. We've come a long way, we
still have a ways to go, but this will be
an opportunity for us to reflect and look ahead to
the future of this epidemic and how we can raise
awareness about the stigma and eliminate that and get down
to zero stigma, zero infections, and zero deaths.

Speaker 5 (21:12):
Yeah, and I just said to your point right, we
would not be here today without the activism of our
community who stood up for people in HIV when nobody
was doing that. And Rob Bryker was part of that,
and the walk was part of that. So we are
here because of that. I'm sine thankful and grateful.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yes, looking forward to it. October nineteenth. Evelyn tauris executive
director of Action Wellness and organization dedicated to improving the
lives of people living with and affected by chronic illnesses,
including HIV and AS, at the forefront of this retrospective
celebration of the AIDS Walk Legacy on October nineteenth. Thank
you so much for joining us today.

Speaker 5 (21:50):
Thank you, Loreen, It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
See you soon.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Today we're talking about lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that
affects millions worldwide. Joining us are Sean Triggs, Regional director
for the Pennsylvania Delaware Valley Region at the Lupas Foundation
of America, and Lenae j a LUPUS Warrior, volunteer, ambassador
and support group facilitator. We'll be talking about local resources,

(22:16):
the impact of lupus, and the upcoming Philadelphia Lupus Loop
and Walk to End Lupus, now happening at the Navy
Yard Saturday, October eighteenth. Sean and Linee, thank you so
much for joining us. And I'm going to start with you.
Can you tell us more about what lupas is. I
think people have heard the word but may not understand

(22:38):
exactly what it is.

Speaker 6 (22:39):
Sure, absolutely thanks lorrain So. Lupas is an autoimmune disease.
It affects everybody quite differently. Predominantly lupas effects women. Ninety
percent of people living with lupus are women, and then
women of color are two to three.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
Times more likely to develop lupus.

Speaker 6 (22:55):
So extremely important to have our name as the Lupas
Foundation of America get out there in our work here
in the Philadelphia area making sure that we're serving those
populations that really need us most. But Lenae can really
speak a little bit more to that firsthand experience and
a little bit more to symptoms and you know, day
to day life and all that, as it's so varying

(23:17):
from person to person.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
Absolutely, Linee as both a Lupus warrior and a volunteer ambassador.
Can you share a little bit about your personal journey
with lupus and also what inspired you to take on
this advocacy role. So what is lupas? What impact has
it had on you your life?

Speaker 4 (23:33):
Lupas has definitely impacted my life in many ways. I
mean even daily life of lupus is different each and
every day, So like Sean said, Lucas does affect women
and women of color, which I am much more than
you know.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
Every other group.

Speaker 4 (23:50):
Lupus takes about the average of six years to diagnose. Still,
even with all of the advances that we've had, still
does take time because lupas mimicks so many of their
diseases and there's just a lot of misdiagnosis before getting
the proper diagnosis. And so for me, it actually took
almost ten years to get my diagnosis, which is you know,

(24:11):
not the average. There's people who have gotten their diagnosis immediately,
but it took much longer for me. Lupis affects any
organ at any time and can even change over time
which organs have been affected. So originally for me it
was my heart and lungs, and now it's kind of progressed,
as I say, like every year it's something different, but

(24:33):
it has just it's in fact my life. I can
no longer work because of my loopis. But as a
result of that, I am able to advocate and volunteer
with the Foundation, which has been so helpful for me
to have, you know, still a fulfilling life, you know,
being able to give back and I decided, you know,
to become involved with the foundation because when I got diagnosed,

(24:56):
I didn't know anybody with lupus.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
I didn't even know what lupis was.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
And so so I always say, like, I don't want
anyone to feel that way. So I just I advocate
every day. Purple has always been my favorite color, and
I literally wear purple every day. My office is now purple,
So I wear purple. And that's, you know, kind of
my way to always, you know, kind of have that
armor on being a lupus warrior. So yeah, so I

(25:22):
just I enjoy being able to help and advocate anyway,
going to DC, doing events like this, and you know,
the Loop is one of our biggest events, and just
being able to see see a purple is just amazing.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
Sean tell us about the Loopis Loop and Walk to
End Lupus Now. That's happening on October eighteenth. What can
participants expect at this year's event?

Speaker 5 (25:45):
Sure?

Speaker 6 (25:46):
So, our Walk town Lupas Now program is across the
Lubas Foundation of America right here in Philadelphia. We are
on our thirty fourth annual Lupis Loop and Walk to
Lupus Now Saturday, October eighteenth at the Navy Yard. Super
excited to be at that location. It's only our second
year at this new location. Last year we had such

(26:06):
a great positive response that we could not, you know,
not return, So that day people can expect, like that
they said earlier, an army of purple first and foremost
with Lupus Warriors, their caregivers, their family members, their loved ones,
their colleagues, our great corporate partners really all just coming
out to show their support of Lucas Warriors throughout the
Pennsylvanya Dela Ra Valley region. So we will have a

(26:30):
band that day. We have a great stage program where
you'll hear from our staff, you'll hear from people living
with lupus. We'll have different vendors and sponsors there to
interact with our participants. This year, we're really excited to
welcome the Philadelphia Union soccer team, some of their folks
coming out to engage with with families and have some
different activities, and they're going to bring their mascot out.

(26:51):
So the energy is just really great. I think everyone
leaves their really inspired to be part of a community
in philadelph the field, the area who so passionately want
to give back and so passionately want to help people
living with lupus everywhere, and more importantly, also a community
that wants to raise funds for the Lupus Foundation of
America and really support our important work around research, education, advocacy,

(27:16):
and supporting those that really need it.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
It is a beautiful event, Sean. If people would like
to register for the Philadelphia loopis loop and walk to
end Loopus now on Saturday, October eighteenth, where do they
go to sign up for that and also to tap
into all the great resources and support that's made available
by your organization.

Speaker 6 (27:38):
Yeah, everything you can find at lupus dot org slash PDV.
That's our local region website for Pennsylvana Delaware Valley. You
go right to the event section there. You can sign
up for the.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
Loopus Loop as an individual, as a team.

Speaker 6 (27:52):
You can just make a donation. If you can't come
out and join us that day. And our event is
a little bit unique. We have both a run and
walk option for the five k routes, So if you're
a runner, come out and join us. If you'd rather
walk with your family, we've got that option for you
as well. Fundraising is encouraged it's not required, but for
people who do raise fifty dollars and above, you'll get

(28:13):
your Loopus Loop event T shirt. And then for our
top fundraisers we call them our Trailblazers, who raise one
thousand dollars more and more, you get a fancy metal
We make a whole big deal when you arrive. Then
it's just a lot of excitement and energy that day.
And also on lubist org slash PDV, you can find
all of our resources from our health education specialists who

(28:35):
can answer one on one non medical questions and help
connect you with other resources. We have our Loopus Connect program,
which is an online community where people can, at all
hours of the day go on and post questions or
read about different topics if they're having a rough time
or if they're newly diagnosed, want to connect with other
people in.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
An online community.

Speaker 6 (28:55):
We've got that and a host of everything else right
there on our website that we also would love to
share with you that day.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
As Lena said, we'll be talking.

Speaker 6 (29:02):
About our resources and sharing all of that at the
Lupas Sloop on October eighteenth as well.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Fantastic Sean Triggs, Regional director for the Pennsylvania, Delaware Valley
Region at the Lupas Foundation of America and lonee j
a Lupas Warrior Volunteer Ambassador and support group facilitator Again.
The upcoming Philadelphia Lupasloop and Walk to Lupus Now is
happening at the Navy Yard on Saturday, October eighteenth. See

(29:27):
you there, Thanks so much for joining us.

Speaker 3 (29:29):
Are you herey?

Speaker 1 (29:31):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app ye Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard morel and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?

(29:51):
You've been listening to what's going on and thank you

Speaker 4 (30:00):
Si