The CAN DO Community Foundation will participate in the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community fundraising event on Saturday at PNC Field in Moosic to raise money for Ferrwood Camp in Drums.

All proceeds that the Foundation team raises will benefit the music and other programs.

The Walk for a Healthy Community is open to the public and features a 5K run and one-mile fun walk. Those interested can join the CAN DO Community Foundation team or contribute a monetary donation to the team. All registered walkers who raise or donate at least $30 will receive a walk T-shirt while supplies last. Registration begins at 7:45 a.m. The 5K walk begins at 9 a.m. and the one-mile fun walk starts at 9:15 a.m.

The Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community is an annual fundraising walk that benefits local health and human service agencies. This year marks the first time the event will be held in Northeast Pennsylvania. The CAN DO Community Foundation is the only nonprofit organization from the Greater Hazleton area that is participating in the event.

Highmark Inc. coordinates and underwrites the cost of the walk so that 100 percent of the money raised by walkers goes to the participating nonprofits. The goal of the walk is to help participating organizations raise money for their individual missions and energize community members to have a greater hand in their health by becoming or staying physically active.

In addition to the Foundation’s team, Greater Hazleton will play a significant role in the event’s entertainment schedule. The Hazleton Area High School chorus will perform the National Anthem to start the day and the Cellar Dwellarz, a jazz ensemble featuring students from throughout the Hazleton Area School District, will play a few of their jazz numbers for the crowd.

To register or make an online donation, visit https://www.walkforahealthycommunity.org/whc3/nepa/index.shtml. Click on the register or donate button and search for CAN DO Community Foundation.

For more information about the event or to mail a donation, call Chris Stamatopoulos at (570) 881-7868 or Nancy Stasko at (570) 455-1508 ext. 2032.

The CAN DO Community Foundation has spent many years overseeing restoration of Ferrwood, the site of the historic summer music camp for children that was founded in the 1920s as a fresh air camp for children predisposed to tuberculosis. In 2017, under the leadership of the Foundation, the Ferrwood Camp site was nominated to and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Foundation has secured donations for several restoration projects throughout the years. Most recently, Burczy Painting completed an extensive painting project that included building exteriors, window frames and kitchen walls.

Past restoration projects at Ferrwood included stabilization of the facility with new foundation and structure support, refurbishing the dormitories, reconstructing a pump house, repairing the roof and providing new furnishings for the great room. The Foundation also arranged for students at the Keystone Job Corps to complete additional work, including adding a new campfire site.

The restoration of Ferrwood has received more than half a million dollars in the form of county, state and federal grants; contributions from individuals, foundations, organizations and unions, and donated labor and materials from businesses and foundations. The Foundation's objective is to have the facility used to the greatest extent possible, and so it continues to support activities at the camp.