By Victoria Stone-Meadows
The annual Walk to Remember, hosted by the Jared Dunscombe Fund, is on again this February with everyone encouraged to participate and donate to the cause.
The annual walk is held in memory of Jared Dunscombe, a Cranbourne Rotary Club member whose life was tragically cut short at the age of 31 in 2013.
Mr Dunscombe was killed when he fell from his bike and was struck by a truck and trailer travelling in the same direction while taking part in the Rotary fund-raising event – Ride to Conference.
The Walk to Remember encourages anyone who has lost someone close to them to take the time to walk the Lysterfield Park Hallam North Walking Tracks and remember those no longer with us.
Through the Walk to Remember, the fund raises money to donate to a charity that Mr Dunscombe would have believed in.
This year the fund is raising money to help Victorian-based assistance dog training group Righteous Pups to fund the construction of two new training facilities.
Mr Dunscombe’s sister Jonelle Colabufalo said Righteous Pups was the kind of organisation her brother would have supported.
“He was a dog lover and we always had dogs growing up; he even had his own little Jack Russell,” she said.
“But it’s the helping young people that these dogs do; that’s the kind of organisation he supported.”
The training facilities that the money will go towards include one for diabetes alert dogs and one for Righteous Pup’s Bridging the Gaps program.
The Bridging the Gaps Program is for children 11 to 18-year-olds who have been identified with significant educational or psychological risks and behavioural problems.
“The youth come and work with the dog trainers and a counsellor for one day per week for 12 months and the results they are having from this program in turning around the lives of these young people is amazing,” Ms Colabufalo said.
As well as the fund-raising walk, the pups from the program will be on hand to meet the walkers and there will be a number of children’s activities as well.
The Walk to Remember will be held on Saturday 18 February and to register or find out more about the Jared Dunscombe Fund visit www.jaredfund.org.au.
