Friday, April 7, 2017

The Virginia Commonwealth University Staff Senate held the 13th annual Marquita Aguilar Walk-a-Thon Wednesday on the Monroe Park Campus. More than 200 people, including administration, staff, faculty, alumni and guests, participated in the event, which raised more than $8,600 for the Virginia’s Caring University scholarship.

The event began on the University Student Commons Plaza with a 20-minute warm up, led by representatives from VCU Recreational Sports and the YMCA, followed by a welcome address from VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. Remarks were then made by Taylor Melton, special assistant to Secretary of Administration Nancy Rodrigues, and Aimee Reyes, a past scholarship recipient.

“On behalf of the 90-plus student recipients, I want to thank you,” said Reyes. “I want to thank the Staff Senate, the volunteers who have given their time, the walkers that are here to participate and those who couldn’t be here but still donated, and of course to Marquita, who works tirelessly to organize this event and to create the opportunity for VCU students to shine.”

After the walk, participants had a catered lunch in the University Student Commons Ballroom, and had the opportunity to visit with community sponsors such as RamTech, The Well, Costco, Sam’s Club, Omni Hotel and the YWCA. They were also treated to massages by staff from VCU Recreational Sports and blood pressure and cholesterol checks by students from the VCU School of Pharmacy.

Since 2005, the Staff Senate has raised more than $110,000 from the VCU and VCU Health communities through the walk-a-thon. A total of 105 students have benefited from the Virginia’s Caring University scholarship.

To be considered, students must be rising juniors or seniors in financial need with a grade point average of 2.7 or better. Students can apply for the scholarship by visiting https://staffsenate.vcu.edu/walkathon. The deadline to apply is May 1.

“When we support each other there is nothing we can’t do,” said Aguilar, operations coordinator for the Center for Urban Communities in the Office of the President, and founder of the walk-a-thon and scholarship. “We can move mountains and through this walk-a-thon, we have moved some mountains. We’ve created less debt for our rising juniors and seniors and we will continue to do it.”

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