San Francisco RRT Helps American Diabetes Step Out Event at The Fort Mason Center

On Saturday October 1, 2016, 15 volunteers arrived to help at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.   The walk was for Diabetes sufferers, their families, and those who had lost family to diabetes. There was an opening ceremony and motivational speakers before the walk set off.  There were walkers, runners, strollers, children and even wheelchairs along the trail. The number of people that came together to fight this disease was inspiring.

Many gathered to support Diabetes

 

Beautiful Day for an outdoor event

RRT’s job was to provide assistance for those on the path that needed help.  This included trying to keep the path clear for those that were trying to travel it, and direct all types of traffic even those who were not taking part in the Diabetes walk.  There was also a bike route sharing the trail with the walk, which was heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge in the other direction, so a bit of initiative was required to keep things running smoothly, at times!! This included giving bikers a short push up the steepest hill when required, and even replacing a bike chain, in an endeavor to keep the path clear for the diabetes trailers at all times.

RRT Member assisting with a bike failure

RRT’s job was also to set up path dividers for traffic, direct traffic and offer help to those that were struggling or appearing to need help. What was noticed though was a tough determination to succeed without too much support from anybody else!  We spent a fair bit of time watching the proceedings with interest and walking between points, talking to walkers, letting them know we were there if they needed us, conferring with RRT team members and generally keeping up the communication channels for what might be required of us at any point.

Bikers

After an hour or so, the walkers started returning slowly to the starting point.  Some of the volunteers were sent to collect the signposts in one area so had a scenic walk of the city beachfront! This also meant a walk past the Ghirardelli chocolate factory to collect any signs to be found then back round the loop and back to Fort Mason. Some of the other volunteers had gone in the opposite direction to round up any walkers that had strayed off the path.

RRT Volunteer Directing Traffic

The park was a hubbub of activity with more speeches and thank yous from the event organizers and a DJ. Refreshments were set up on one side and tents and stage were set up on the other side.  Starbucks, Peet’s coffee, and many other local companies had donated supplies for the event.

Some of The RRT Team Members

A raffle was called and many prizes were taken home. The event was wound up by an amusing speaker and people started to go home.

Walkers

After the event was over, RRT volunteers started to take down the tents and tables, pick up garbage and offer help to those clearing their tables and equipment.  It was a perfect day weather wise and everybody felt enthused about how it all went.  RRT volunteers look forward to assisting with this event again.