Raise money for Call for Help at Swansea walk

Sure honey, we can go somewhere sunny and 75 this weekend. Just step outside. Here are five ideas to get you motivated to stay out, too.

Walk a Mile

Walking a mile is easy, right? Gentlemen, do I have a pair of size 9 heels for you...

Call for Help, Inc is putting on the first of what they hope is an annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, an international fundraiser to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence, at Schranz Park in Swansea on Saturday. Registration starts at 9 a.m., with the walk a little after 10 a.m.; registration is $20.

Now if you’re thinking, ‘Gosh Mary, that’s kind of you, but my feet won’t fit in those delicate little shoes of yours’ — ha! — never fear.

“There’s a company that creates men’s shoes for this event. They’re all red pumps,” says Melissa Tutterow of Call for Help. Shoe rental is $5.

Call for Help hopes to raise $10,000 with this event and have more than 100 walkers (both men and women are welcome to walk). The money will go to its sexual assault victim’s care unit.

Tutterow says Fast Fitness will be there to lead exercise (in heels) and other volunteers leading dance moves (in heels) from 9 to 10 a.m.; and sexual violence survivors and St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly (possibly in heels) will speak.

“I’m sure whatever they have me wear will be uncomfortable and ridiculous, but I think that’s the point,” Kelly said.

Call for Help will award prizes for the largest team and biggest fundraiser.

Tutterow says Call for Help is the only rape crisis center in the five county area, and they help about 270 survivors annually. About 90 of those are rape victims; and less than 30 percent of victims report their assault, according to Tutterow.

Call for Help has 24-hour assistance to victims of rape, incest, molestation, harassment or other sexual assault; with trained advocates available to help victims at the hospital or police station. They continue assistance through the medical and legal systems and provide victims and their families no-cost counseling for as long as they need it. The Sexual Assault Victims Care Unit is available round-the-clock at 618-397-0975.

For more information, go to www.callforhelpinc.org.

Riverbend Earth Day Festival

Earth Day is Friday, April 22, but the folks at Piasa Harbor are ready to celebrate from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday. The harbor is at 10815 Lockhaven Road in Godfrey.

The Nature Institute hosts the fifth annual Riverbend Earth Day Festival, with help from the Great Rivers Land Trust, the Alton Regional CVB and more. It’s free and open to the public.

Treehouse Wildlife Center will offer birds of prey at noon; Serengeti Steve will share a reptile experience at 1 p.m.; the Lodge Brothers Bluegrass play from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and the Buckhannon Brothers from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

The Riverbend Earth Day Festival will also have organized hikes, fresh local foods and vendors and artists.

Help send someone to rehab

Last year’s Hero Inside festival had hundreds of people descend on Everett Moody Park in Fairview Heights. The Hero Inside Organization hopes to top that this year from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at the park at 525 S. Ruby Lane in Fairview Heights. The festival offers live music, guest speakers, rides and games in a family-friendly setting.

The Hero Inside is a nonprofit based in Fairview Heights that helps send heroin addicts to rehab, as well as other costs associated with addiction including funerals. The third-annual festival is both to raise awareness and funds.

For more information, go to http://heroinside.org.

Forage

OK foragers, don’t get upset at me. I don’t like the fungus, and I promise not to pick any.

The Great Morel Hunt will be at 1 p.m. Sunday, weather and morels permitting, the folks at Pere Marquette Lodge say. The park is hosting the annual festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and promise it will be bigger than ever with live music, local wines and plenty of mushroom knowledge all around.

Pere Marquette Lodge is at 13653 Lodge Blvd. in Grafton. Call 618-786-2331 for more information.

Rummage

If you zip in and out with purpose, you can visit several rummage sales this weekend. Some benefit charities, so it’s almost like you’re shopping for other people.

▪  8 a.m. to noon Saturday, St. Lukes, 226 N. Church St. in Belleville. Bag of clothing for $3.

▪  8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Trinity Services Inc., 973 N. Sixth St., Mascoutah. Proceeds will benefit people with developmental disabilities at Trinity Services as well as other charities of the Mascoutah Tuesday Women’s Club.

▪  8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, St. Teresa Catholic School Gym, 1108 Lebanon Ave., Belleville. Proceeds benefit St. Teresa School.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Raise money for Call for Help at Swansea walk."