September 4, 2025 • 11 mins
In this episode, host Phil Tower speaks with Sierra Belz, Marketing & Communications Specialist with Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids.
Sierra joined us to talk about Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids sponsoring their 11th annual West Side Walk for Gilda’s Club on Saturday, Sept. 27.
The walk is all about celebrating and supporting the thousands of lives touched by Gilda’s free emotional health programs for individuals and families navigating cancer or grief.
The walk is not just a fundraiser—it’s also a celebration of community, resilience, and connecting with others.
**There is no cost to register, but participants are encouraged to raise funds through peer-to-peer outreach.
**Worth Noting: Gilda's Club does not charge for cancer support counseling or any of its programs, including support groups, workshops, and social activities. Gilda's Club is an independent, nonprofit organization that offers its services free of charge to cancer patients, survivors, and their families and friends. It is all free of charge, thanks to donor support.
Online: Gilda's Club Grand Rapids
West Side Walk Signup & Info.
Sierra joined us to talk about Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids sponsoring their 11th annual West Side Walk for Gilda’s Club on Saturday, Sept. 27.
The walk is all about celebrating and supporting the thousands of lives touched by Gilda’s free emotional health programs for individuals and families navigating cancer or grief.
The walk is not just a fundraiser—it’s also a celebration of community, resilience, and connecting with others.
**There is no cost to register, but participants are encouraged to raise funds through peer-to-peer outreach.
**Worth Noting: Gilda's Club does not charge for cancer support counseling or any of its programs, including support groups, workshops, and social activities. Gilda's Club is an independent, nonprofit organization that offers its services free of charge to cancer patients, survivors, and their families and friends. It is all free of charge, thanks to donor support.
Online: Gilda's Club Grand Rapids
West Side Walk Signup & Info.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. We appreciate you tuning
in as we wind down the month of August. Look
ahead at September. It is a great month to get
outside and enjoy the beauty of West Michigan. It's kind
of like part summer part fall, and that's a wonderful
gift of September in Michigan. You never know if you're
(00:38):
going to get a summer day, a fall day, or
a mix of the two, or something completely unexpected. But
we can tell you this much, it is going to
be a great day on Saturday, September twenty seventh for
the Guilda's Club Annual West Sidewalk. Here to tell us
more about that is Sierra Bell's marketing and communications specialists
(01:00):
with Guilda's Club of Grand Rapids. Sere. I'm so glad
you could join us for a couple of moments. Thank
you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well, let's first of all talk about Guilda's Club, and
I want to really stress this. I think a lot
of people are familiar. Gosh, everybody listening to us on
the radio right now should be familiar with the name
Gilda's Club and Guilda's Club of Grand Rapids. I think
it's important to remind people that you at Gilda's Club,
you don't charge for any of your cancer support counseling
(01:32):
for that matter, any of your programs, your workshops, your
social activities. It's all donor supported and it's all free
of charge to cancer not only cancer patients, survivors of
people who've lost someone to cancer, their families and friends.
It's all free of charge thanks to generous support from
(01:52):
people here in West Michigan and business donations. That's a
pretty amazing thing, Sierra.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, it's We are very grateful for ourmmunity support and
to just be able to continue to provide all of
these programs free of charge to the community.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So one of those things you can do to help
raise money to not only pay it forward, maybe for
another family that's going to use the services provided by
Guilda's Club here in Grand rapids, just any number of things.
Maybe you just want to do a good thing. You
can lace up your walking or running shoes, or maybe
slip into your walking or running shoes and join Guilda's
(02:27):
Club for the eleventh annual West Side Walk for Gilda's Club.
It's Saturday, September twenty seventh, celebrating and supporting thousands of
people touched by Gilda's Club and their free emotional health
programs for individuals and families who have dealt with cancer
or grief from losing a loved one to cancer. I
(02:49):
didn't realize this is eleven years for the West Side Walk.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
This is our eleventh year. We are very excited.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, this is a great event and it's not a
competitive walk in any way, Sarah, It's just a community
walk and then you have a block party afterwards. So
this kicks off at eleven am at Gilda's Club, right
at the clubhouse, right eighteen oh six Bridge Street Northwest.
Is that where it.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Starts, right at the clubhouse. You can register online beforehand
or registration the day of starts at ten am and
then our walk kicks off at eleven We do a
little mission moment, we talk to the crowd, tell them
if they haven't been here, just a little bit about
guildas and then some experience from past walkers will get
up and talk. We'll share some of our top thunderising teams,
(03:39):
and then we'll head out on like a short one
point five mile loop. You don't have to walk it.
A lot of people that might not be able to
walk it stay and just hang out for their music
and stay at the clubhouse until lunch. Right after people
return from the walk.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
All right, so it is a pretty easy walk and
it's not competitive. There's not you know, there's metal us
or anything like that, but it is a great walk
through the heart of Grand Rapids West Side and you
know you can't beat that. Then afterwards, you guys are
throwing a block party with lunch, music, kids, activities and more.
Talk about that if.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
You would see HERA yeah, So we will have lunch,
hot dogs, some desserts, chips, snacks, and then we've got
PJ to DJ coming back this year, so there'll be
some music setup. All of our sponsors have table booths
there that usually have some type of interactive activity so
they get out and talk to the community, and then
(04:36):
the Grand Rapids children's museums actually come out too, and
we've got like a little kids corner going on, so
there's lots of activities for the kids as well. So
it's really a family friendly event of anyone of all ages.
There's definitely something for everyone to do. We've got some
cornerbal setups, we've got tables, chairs, you can just like
relax and all this good stuff I love.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And it's taking place on Saturday, September twenty seventh at
eleven am. Registration is ten am. There's no cost to register,
but those who do the Guildess Club West Side Walk,
they can raise money and there's a way to do that.
Can you talk about those that opportunity please?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah. So you can register online if you actually didn't know,
if you're at guildessclubgr dot org backslash WSW and you
can choose to either walk as an individual or join
a team or start your own team. So a lot
of people will decide to maybe get their coworkers together
or get their family and friends and just create a team.
(05:40):
They can do it just to come out and walk,
but some people will do it in memory or in
honor of a loved one and create that team and
then make funders and goals to earn incentives and stuff
and kind of just challenge your own team as well,
because all of the funds raised do come back to
Guilda's Club groand Rapids to help us continue to provide
(06:01):
all of the free cancer and Greece sport. So making
those teams and just coming out for a cause and
the teams go crazy, Like we've got one team called
land Sharks and they'll come out with their little sharks
fins and come out all dress stuffs. And we've got
a breast studies group and you'll come out and they're
pink two two's and they'll have pink bows and it
(06:23):
really is just a fun day really.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So you can be as thematic as you would like
if you put together a walking team.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Right, Yes, you can do about anything.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah. I. By the way, we're speaking with Sierra Bell's
marketing and communications specialists with Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids
talking about their eleventh annual West Sidewalk and Block Party Saturday,
September twenty seventh at Gilda's Club. If you've never been
to Gilda's Clubhouse, it's on Bridge Street Northwest on the
near you know northwest side of Grand Rapids. It's very
(06:57):
easy to find eighteen oh six Bridge Street Northwest. That's
where everyone will gather that morning, and then the walk
is a one point five mile community walk through the
heart of Grand Rapids. What I love about this is
anyone who raises one hundred and fifty dollars or more
receives one of the West Side Walk exclusive T shirts.
(07:17):
And I think I've seen that Shark team before. I
love that, and I love the pink two two's just
whatever it is. And you know, Sierra, I don't know
of any family, anyone listening to us right now that
hasn't been touched by cancer, whether an immediate family member
or a distant relative, a close relative, a friend. I
(07:42):
certainly am in that group. I lost a family member
earlier this year, a cousin to cancer, and it's just
it's always a reminder that life is fragile, and after
you lose someone to cancer, that's where Gilda's Club steps in.
So thank you to you and your team for providing
that read no charge support for not only survivors of
(08:04):
people who've lost someone, but you know, friends and family
as well too. It's really great this event is happening
on Saturday, September twenty seventh. If somebody can't walk, they
can just also make a donation in someone's name on
your website, right guildasclubgr dot com.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah, of course they can go on make a donation.
They can make it out to like a dedication and
on a orn memory of someone. And if they can't walk,
they can still create a funders and team or fundraise online.
A lot of people share their stories on Facebook and
it kind of just gets the word out there even
more and they kind of just say, like what they're doing,
(08:43):
and they share their story and their involvement with Guilda's
Club and people seem to respond and it is a
peer to peers, So a word of mouth is definitely
everything to get the word out there and just get
more people to come and walk with us.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It is indeed, and again the website I want to
correct at it's Gilda's clubgr dot org, gildasclubgr dot org,
Gilda's clubgr dot rg. That's where you can not only register,
you can make a donation, you can support the event
really and at any level that you'd like. And most importantly,
(09:18):
if you feel motivated, I mean, come on, who can't
do a one point five mile community walk to support
Gilda's Club. It's pretty simple, and as you were saying here,
you don't even have to do the walk. You can
just show up, have a good time, and be there
to support others who are doing the one point five
mile community walk. Siah, is there anything else you wanted
(09:40):
to share with our listeners about the west Side Walk
on September twenty seventh.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
We just hope you can join us and come out
and support the community, meet some of maybe your neighbors,
and come do it for a good cause and see
what Guilda's Club's all about. You'll get to see the
clubhouse if you haven't done there before, and it's beautiful,
and just to be able to be there and hear
the community wide stories definitely gets you a little more involved.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
So yeah, very well said again. The west Side Walk
is Saturday, September twenty seventh. You can learn more at
gildasclubgr dot org. And for any of you listening who
maybe have recently lost someone to cancer, as an important reminder,
just take advantages of the services at gildasclubgr dot org.
(10:27):
Gildasclubgr dot org there are lots of programs available to you,
and all available at no charge. Siarah Bells is a
marketing and communications specialist with Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids. Sarah,
thank you for sharing a couple of moments with us,
and good luck with your annual West Side Watch.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
She's been our guest on this segment of West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio.
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. We appreciate you tuning
in as we wind down the month of August. Look
ahead at September. It is a great month to get
outside and enjoy the beauty of West Michigan. It's kind
of like part summer part fall, and that's a wonderful
gift of September in Michigan. You never know if you're
(00:38):
going to get a summer day, a fall day, or
a mix of the two, or something completely unexpected. But
we can tell you this much, it is going to
be a great day on Saturday, September twenty seventh for
the Guilda's Club Annual West Sidewalk. Here to tell us
more about that is Sierra Bell's marketing and communications specialists
(01:00):
with Guilda's Club of Grand Rapids. Sere. I'm so glad
you could join us for a couple of moments. Thank
you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well, let's first of all talk about Guilda's Club, and
I want to really stress this. I think a lot
of people are familiar. Gosh, everybody listening to us on
the radio right now should be familiar with the name
Gilda's Club and Guilda's Club of Grand Rapids. I think
it's important to remind people that you at Gilda's Club,
you don't charge for any of your cancer support counseling
(01:32):
for that matter, any of your programs, your workshops, your
social activities. It's all donor supported and it's all free
of charge to cancer not only cancer patients, survivors of
people who've lost someone to cancer, their families and friends.
It's all free of charge thanks to generous support from
(01:52):
people here in West Michigan and business donations. That's a
pretty amazing thing, Sierra.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, it's We are very grateful for ourmmunity support and
to just be able to continue to provide all of
these programs free of charge to the community.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So one of those things you can do to help
raise money to not only pay it forward, maybe for
another family that's going to use the services provided by
Guilda's Club here in Grand rapids, just any number of things.
Maybe you just want to do a good thing. You
can lace up your walking or running shoes, or maybe
slip into your walking or running shoes and join Guilda's
(02:27):
Club for the eleventh annual West Side Walk for Gilda's Club.
It's Saturday, September twenty seventh, celebrating and supporting thousands of
people touched by Gilda's Club and their free emotional health
programs for individuals and families who have dealt with cancer
or grief from losing a loved one to cancer. I
(02:49):
didn't realize this is eleven years for the West Side Walk.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
This is our eleventh year. We are very excited.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, this is a great event and it's not a
competitive walk in any way, Sarah, It's just a community
walk and then you have a block party afterwards. So
this kicks off at eleven am at Gilda's Club, right
at the clubhouse, right eighteen oh six Bridge Street Northwest.
Is that where it.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Starts, right at the clubhouse. You can register online beforehand
or registration the day of starts at ten am and
then our walk kicks off at eleven We do a
little mission moment, we talk to the crowd, tell them
if they haven't been here, just a little bit about
guildas and then some experience from past walkers will get
up and talk. We'll share some of our top thunderising teams,
(03:39):
and then we'll head out on like a short one
point five mile loop. You don't have to walk it.
A lot of people that might not be able to
walk it stay and just hang out for their music
and stay at the clubhouse until lunch. Right after people
return from the walk.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
All right, so it is a pretty easy walk and
it's not competitive. There's not you know, there's metal us
or anything like that, but it is a great walk
through the heart of Grand Rapids West Side and you
know you can't beat that. Then afterwards, you guys are
throwing a block party with lunch, music, kids, activities and more.
Talk about that if.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
You would see HERA yeah, So we will have lunch,
hot dogs, some desserts, chips, snacks, and then we've got
PJ to DJ coming back this year, so there'll be
some music setup. All of our sponsors have table booths
there that usually have some type of interactive activity so
they get out and talk to the community, and then
(04:36):
the Grand Rapids children's museums actually come out too, and
we've got like a little kids corner going on, so
there's lots of activities for the kids as well. So
it's really a family friendly event of anyone of all ages.
There's definitely something for everyone to do. We've got some
cornerbal setups, we've got tables, chairs, you can just like
relax and all this good stuff I love.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And it's taking place on Saturday, September twenty seventh at
eleven am. Registration is ten am. There's no cost to register,
but those who do the Guildess Club West Side Walk,
they can raise money and there's a way to do that.
Can you talk about those that opportunity please?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah. So you can register online if you actually didn't know,
if you're at guildessclubgr dot org backslash WSW and you
can choose to either walk as an individual or join
a team or start your own team. So a lot
of people will decide to maybe get their coworkers together
or get their family and friends and just create a team.
(05:40):
They can do it just to come out and walk,
but some people will do it in memory or in
honor of a loved one and create that team and
then make funders and goals to earn incentives and stuff
and kind of just challenge your own team as well,
because all of the funds raised do come back to
Guilda's Club groand Rapids to help us continue to provide
(06:01):
all of the free cancer and Greece sport. So making
those teams and just coming out for a cause and
the teams go crazy, Like we've got one team called
land Sharks and they'll come out with their little sharks
fins and come out all dress stuffs. And we've got
a breast studies group and you'll come out and they're
pink two two's and they'll have pink bows and it
(06:23):
really is just a fun day really.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So you can be as thematic as you would like
if you put together a walking team.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Right, Yes, you can do about anything.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah. I. By the way, we're speaking with Sierra Bell's
marketing and communications specialists with Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids
talking about their eleventh annual West Sidewalk and Block Party Saturday,
September twenty seventh at Gilda's Club. If you've never been
to Gilda's Clubhouse, it's on Bridge Street Northwest on the
near you know northwest side of Grand Rapids. It's very
(06:57):
easy to find eighteen oh six Bridge Street Northwest. That's
where everyone will gather that morning, and then the walk
is a one point five mile community walk through the
heart of Grand Rapids. What I love about this is
anyone who raises one hundred and fifty dollars or more
receives one of the West Side Walk exclusive T shirts.
(07:17):
And I think I've seen that Shark team before. I
love that, and I love the pink two two's just
whatever it is. And you know, Sierra, I don't know
of any family, anyone listening to us right now that
hasn't been touched by cancer, whether an immediate family member
or a distant relative, a close relative, a friend. I
(07:42):
certainly am in that group. I lost a family member
earlier this year, a cousin to cancer, and it's just
it's always a reminder that life is fragile, and after
you lose someone to cancer, that's where Gilda's Club steps in.
So thank you to you and your team for providing
that read no charge support for not only survivors of
(08:04):
people who've lost someone, but you know, friends and family
as well too. It's really great this event is happening
on Saturday, September twenty seventh. If somebody can't walk, they
can just also make a donation in someone's name on
your website, right guildasclubgr dot com.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah, of course they can go on make a donation.
They can make it out to like a dedication and
on a orn memory of someone. And if they can't walk,
they can still create a funders and team or fundraise online.
A lot of people share their stories on Facebook and
it kind of just gets the word out there even
more and they kind of just say, like what they're doing,
(08:43):
and they share their story and their involvement with Guilda's
Club and people seem to respond and it is a
peer to peers, So a word of mouth is definitely
everything to get the word out there and just get
more people to come and walk with us.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It is indeed, and again the website I want to
correct at it's Gilda's clubgr dot org, gildasclubgr dot org,
Gilda's clubgr dot rg. That's where you can not only register,
you can make a donation, you can support the event
really and at any level that you'd like. And most importantly,
(09:18):
if you feel motivated, I mean, come on, who can't
do a one point five mile community walk to support
Gilda's Club. It's pretty simple, and as you were saying here,
you don't even have to do the walk. You can
just show up, have a good time, and be there
to support others who are doing the one point five
mile community walk. Siah, is there anything else you wanted
(09:40):
to share with our listeners about the west Side Walk
on September twenty seventh.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
We just hope you can join us and come out
and support the community, meet some of maybe your neighbors,
and come do it for a good cause and see
what Guilda's Club's all about. You'll get to see the
clubhouse if you haven't done there before, and it's beautiful,
and just to be able to be there and hear
the community wide stories definitely gets you a little more involved.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
So yeah, very well said again. The west Side Walk
is Saturday, September twenty seventh. You can learn more at
gildasclubgr dot org. And for any of you listening who
maybe have recently lost someone to cancer, as an important reminder,
just take advantages of the services at gildasclubgr dot org.
(10:27):
Gildasclubgr dot org there are lots of programs available to you,
and all available at no charge. Siarah Bells is a
marketing and communications specialist with Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids. Sarah,
thank you for sharing a couple of moments with us,
and good luck with your annual West Side Watch.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
She's been our guest on this segment of West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Charlie is America's hardest working grassroots activist who has your inside scoop on the biggest news of the day and what's really going on behind the headlines. The founder of Turning Point USA and one of social media's most engaged personalities, Charlie is on the front lines of America’s culture war, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of students on over 3,500 college and high school campuses across the country, bringing you your daily dose of clarity in a sea of chaos all from his signature no-holds-barred, unapologetically conservative, freedom-loving point of view. You can also watch Charlie Kirk on Salem News Channel