Participants Hit the Beach for Charities

It was a busy morning for fund raising on Ventura’s beaches Saturday.

Coming from one direction, nearly 500 people were walking to raise money for Ventura County’s AIDS support groups. Coming from the other direction: more than 200 participants in an American Heart Assn. pledge walk.

Accidentally scheduled for the same time, the two groups converged briefly at San Buenaventura State Beach--red ribbons brushing against T-shirts silk-screened with cheerfully pulsing hearts--then went their separate ways.

The third annual Walk for Life, benefiting Christopher House and AIDS Care, was the most successful pledge walk in the group’s history, raising $50,502, organizers said. Christopher House is a hospice for people living with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and HIV. AIDS Care is a nonprofit organization that provides support services for people with the disease.

Heart Walk brought in about $15,000 for research on heart disease, an increase from last year’s $12,000. Organizer Bart Bleuel said he had hoped for greater participation.

“I was a little disappointed in the number of walkers,” said Bleuel, adding that he thought Walk for Life’s gain may have been the heart association’s loss.

“We were talking to the same people about the walks, and obviously, they couldn’t go to both,” he said. “But the AIDS foundation looked like they were doing great and we’re happy for them.”

Walk for Life organizer and AIDS Care Executive Director Doug Green credited much of the group’s success to strong participation from corporations, schools and groups of friends. Thirty-eight teams took part, ranging from families of three to a group of 58 from the Thousand Oaks-based biotechnology firm Amgen.

“We really focused this year on team building,” Green said. “We’re getting them to walk with their families, their friends, their co-workers. It’s been incredible.”

Amgen alone raised $4,248, while 27 students from Buena High School, wearing blue T-shirts that spelled out Buena Bulldogs, brought in $1,500 for the cause. Senior class members Ari Bloom, 17, Tammy Federman, 16, and Jay Gupta, 16, organized the school’s participation.

“We did really well,” Bloom said. “We were impressed. It says a lot for Buena, gives us a more positive image.”

Bill Rich said his colleagues at Amgen were motivated to turn out for the event by both personal experience with the AIDS epidemic and by the pharmaceutical company’s active role in medical research.

“This has affected most people I know in some way,” Rich said. “And what most of us do for a living is work with products that might someday help people with AIDS. So we want to help increase understanding and awareness about the disease.”

Amgen clinical researcher Wade Lovelace said he extended his fund raising across the nation, lining up pledges for the 10-kilometer walk on business trips.

“Yesterday I was at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, and I got my doctor to pledge,” Lovelace said.

While Lovelace and the rest of the Amgen team were lining up at the start line, the first of the Heart Walk participants began trickling by, on their way to a turnaround at Marina Park.

Rochelle and Bruce Olson of Ventura were led by Tanka, a strapping Rottweiler with a blue American Heart Assn. balloon bobbing from its collar.

The Olsons are regular participants in Heart Walk. Bruce, a podiatrist, said he sees many recovering heart patients in his practice.

“Many of them develop foot problems, shin splints and the like because they have to walk during their recovery stage,” Olson said. “And many of them aren’t used to walking.”

For most of the participants, the events were more than just a way to raise money for a good cause. They were a chance to show support, and to remember friends, family and colleagues they had lost.

Jennifer Dekel brought her two sons, Jordan, 1, and Zachary, 4, from Woodland Hills.

“My father died of AIDS,” she said, pushing her children along the bike path in a carriage built for two. “I like to come in memory of him.”

She handed Zachary a pretzel. “He knows about it,” she said. “I like to make sure he knows what is going on.”