Walk It Out For Andrew was established in 2010 by the friends and family of Andrew Smialek. That summer, we hosted our first ever Family 5K at West Lawn Park with a goal to raise $2,500 for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. At the end of the event, we had raised over $8,000 and knew right then we had an opportunity to continue doing something special in Andrew’s honor. The following year, the Family 5K was solidified as an annual tradition and what’s now our signature event a decade-plus later.
In 2012, we began supporting Advocate Children’s Hospital and have forged a longstanding partnership with the Advocate Charitable Foundation and Pediatric Hematology and Oncology teams over the years. This was a special opportunity for WIOFA, as Advocate’s Oak Lawn campus is where Andrew was treated.
In 2015, WIOFA was honored to sign a 5-year, $100,000 commitment to operate as the sole benefactor of the Teen Hematology and Oncology Support Group, which we continue to do to this day.