Rose Walk Raises $10K For Blue Cap

MIDLOTHIAN, IL -- Hundreds of people gathered under sunny skies and donned matching blue shirts to walk the beautiful trails of Midlothian Meadows last weekend and support the Blue Island-based Blue Cap organization that serves children and adults with developmental disabilities. It was a record breaking turnout for the 9th annual Rose Walk that remembers Rose Fanucce, a late Blue Cap worker and volunteer who spent decades helping the organization grow.

"Rose did everything," said Pat Thies, the executive director of Blue Cap who worked with Fanucce for 22 years at the organization. "She was always on, and always doing more. She would take people to Cubs games, was a soccer freak and always stressed people staying healthy."

Fanucce died at a young age a decade ago. Her family led an effort to begin a walk in her memory to raise money so the residents at Blue Cap would still be able to experience everything she made possible.

"The money goes to the clients so they can live a normal life," said Rocky Vitaliano, Rose's brother who has been involved with the walk since it started. "So they can go bowling, to a baseball game or have Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner."

Vitaliano, whose wife Nadine heads the Blue Cap Family and Friends Association that organizes the walk, said about 500 people registered for the walk and raised more $10,000 for the effort this year.

"This has grown greatly," he said. "The people donating make it possible. And the sponsors. This year we had sponsors for every aspect of the walk. A sponsor for the start line, finish line and registration."

Thies said about 40 more people registered for the walk in 2017 from 2016 and that the list of sponsors was an all-time high.

The Rose Walk is one of the three largest yearly events for Blue Cap, with a Candlelight Bowl scheduled in April and a "Taste of Olde Western" event in Blue Island every July.

Photos by Amanda Muransky , Marketing Assistant for Blue Cap and Tim Moran, Patch