Our Academic Coordinator, Kelly Weiss; our Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional, Dominick Brown, and the Senior Admissions Coordinator, Kristin McInerney.

 

On the date of Thursday, May 19, 2022, the staff of the College Experience joined the rest of their colleagues at Living Resources for the 2022 Workforce Team Challenge at the Empire State Plaza located in Downtown Albany. The purpose of the challenge was for physical fitness and also had the goal of raising copious amounts of money for charity. This annual endeavor is the largest running event in the Capital District of New York while being organized by the Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club (HMRRC) which also benefits from the money raised. The not-for-profit organization chosen this year that also benefited from the funding was the Oakwood Community Center.

Our enthusiastic team of nearly 30 Living Resources staff members was excited to showcase our team shirt illustrated by staff member Tyler Cronk, which won third place in the Workforce Challenge Tee Shirt Contest for “Most Motivational.” The team added to the colorful parade of nearly four thousand people who ran, jogged, and/or walked the course.

Our Top four male finishers were; Jordan Healy with a time of 24:22, Aaron Boucher (28:49), Peter Butryn (30:24), and Mohammed Kaba

(34:06). Our CEO, Elizabeth Martin led the women of the team with a time of 40:18, followed by Jennifer Richard (55:05), Jenene Pabon (1:04:03), and Catherine Butryn (1:10:32) Living Resources was proud to sponsor our team in this exciting heart-healthy fun event.

Catherine Butryn who is our Development Coordinator was responsible for spending countless hours organizing this event and was even interviewed by a CBS affiliate while walking the 3.5-mile route. Good Samaritans were stationed with water refreshments and local Albany residents were also on hand to play music and cheer the rest of us on until the finish line. Some people chose to walk and others ran as fast as they could to complete the route in less than an hour! This race also marks our slow march back into pre-pandemic times considering masks were optional with this being the first time the Workforce Challenge took place in two years since uncertainty and fear usurped many annual traditions.

We are coming back little by little…one step at a time! Our appreciation also goes out to Cathi Butryn for contributing to this blog entry with some of her original words.

Jennifer Richard (Associate Executive Director) and Jesse Saperstein posing for a selfie.