Contact:  Ed Ferenc, Public Information Officer                                   
Cleveland Municipal Court
216 664 6787 / 216 789 2597
ference@cmcoh.org     www.cmcoh.org

(Cleveland) – Almost 600 people participated in the second Celebrating Recovery 5K Walk and Run Saturday, September 6th at Fort Huntington Park across from the Justice Center.

“The weather hardly had an effect on turnout.  Our goal was to raise awareness about addiction and support those recovering from addiction, and that was accomplished,” said the Honorable Anita Laster Mays, who presides over the Greater Cleveland Drug Court, now in its 16th year of operation.

Judge Mays said the walk and run would not be possible without the cooperation of the Cleveland Department of Public Health and over a dozen local agencies, including Moore Counseling and Mediation Services Inc., Community Awareness and Treatment Services (CATS) and Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS), just to name a few.

HERMES Sports and Events helped coordinate the walk and run.

This year participants were asked to donate to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and organizers collected a number of non-perishable items, along with monetary donations.

With September designated as National Recovery Month, The Celebrating Recovery 5K Walk and Run will continue every year and Judge Mays said many participants are already looking forward to it.

“We stepped it up and I know next year will be just as successful.  In the meantime, we’ll continue working one day at a time,” said Judge Mays.