Ahwatukee Has Heart

Ahwatukee Park overflowed with thousands of lively community members celebrating health and wellness last Saturday at the first Ahwatukee Has Heart festival.

The Ahwatukee Chamber of Commerce held the inaugural sponsor-driven event, which showcased 51 local exhibitors, and donated a portion of its profits to the American Heart Association.

The day began at 7 a.m. when Councilman Greg Stanton kicked-off the 5K Walk, Roll & Run, a non-competitive race in which 191 participants made their way through the Ahwatukee Country Club.

“There were a lot of families and it was really cute to see all the moms and kids, but we also had some serious runners show up,” event co-chair Dawn Rutledge said. “I know if the weather would have been better we would have had more runners but, overall, I was really impressed with the turnout.”

Afterwards, a family-centered health and wellness expo ran late into the afternoon. Interested community members browsed booths providing vision, hearing and dental screenings, blood sugar, cholesterol and body composition testing, chair massages and more.

“We had the bouncy area for kids we called the Fitness Fest, and a rock climbing wall,” Rutledge said. “The entertainment was provided by the Arizona Arts Council and was really great because it kept the energy going all day.”

Food vendors included local restaurants like Café Zentro, Entrees Made Easy and Snowie. The Mountain Pointe High School baseball team and students from Horizon Community Learning Center made up the bulk of the event’s 47 volunteers.

“The great thing is we had tremendous community support and tons of people that helped make this event happen,” Rutledge said. “It was a success given it was a first-time event.”

The idea initially came about in August when the Chamber of Commerce began developing a health and wellness committee to brainstorm networking possibilities and educational opportunities for the community.

“At the first meeting we started brainstorming ideas and it was my idea to have an expo, along with Brad Rogers from The BAR fitness studio,” Rutledge said. “The chamber really wanted to give us an opportunity to educate the community and gave us every kind of support to make this event happen.”

The committee is already meeting next week to discuss changes for next year.