Participants in the first ever ACHIEVE Half-K Classic Walk and Roll, held in 2019. After two years of virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the half-K will return in person on Saturday, October 22 in Norwich's East Park. Participants will begin the .6-mile walk to the Northeast Classic Car Museum at 11 a.m., where they can then enjoy music, food, raffles, a silent auction, and classic cars. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — After two years of holding a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACHIEVE is bringing back the Half-K Classic Walk and Roll fundraiser in person on Saturday, October 22.

The .6-mile walk is one of four signature events ACHIEVE holds every year, and was first held in 2019. This year, the event will kick off with a showcase of classic cars in Norwich's East Park around 10:30 a.m., with the walk beginning at 11 a.m.

Participants will walk from East Park to the Northeast Classic Car Museum, located at 24 Rexford Street, where they can enjoy food, raffles, music, and even more classic cars.

The walk will raise money to support ACHIEVE's mission of providing "skill advancement, inclusion, integration, socialization, and independence of persons with intellectual, developmental and other disabilities through services provided in Broome, Chenango and Tioga Counties."

"We specialize in working with people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. We serve about 2,200 individuals between three different counties: Broome, Tioga, and Chenango. We started with just ten families and we’ve grown to what we are now," said ACHIEVE Director of Community Engagement Raffe Morehead. "We help out everybody who we can try to help out, and we try to advocate as best as we can, and try to provide meaningful programming."

Tickets are $35 for ACHIEVE members and $40 for non-members. Pre-registration for the event is required, and tickets are available for purchase now at AchieveNY.org, under the "Events" tab.

Ticket holders will receive a race bib, T-shirt, and sticker, as well as access to the Northeast Classic Car Museum showrooms and the catered fundraiser. Additionally, attendees can try their luck at winning the 50/50 raffle or gift baskets at the silent auction.

"They are impressive baskets. We usually have about ten of them, and it could range from different Norwich attractions or Broome County attractions, to a car basket, to a beauty basket. And you know you’ll have different things involved in those," Morehead explained. "So it could be anything from an oil change to different beauty products, and restaurants with gift cards."

"Parlor City usually comes down and helps us out with this, so they have different novelty items such as classic cars, like little figurines and stuff like that, that people would normally bid on as well. So a little bit of everything," he added.

To become an ACHIEVE member, visit their website. Morehead said membership is just one dollar per year, but goes a long way to support the organization.

"We have a huge membership campaign every year that kind of gives ACHIEVE as well as the other chapters under the Arc of New York a bigger voice," he said. "The more members we have for it the better programming we can get. We’d be able to apply for different grants that we can bring back to the agency and bring better programming, raises for staff, and just everything to make our company that much more better."

He added that all money raised through the Half-K Classic Walk and Roll will also go to ACHIEVE for programming and other needs of the organization.

The half-K is expected to draw 150 to 200 Chenango County residents, and Morehead suggests participants buy their tickets now, as they sell out fast.

"We’re super excited to have it back again, just because we're excited to see everybody again in person and be able to enjoy these things in person again," he said. "Tickets go quick, make sure to get yours today, and we'll see you on the 22nd."

More information about ACHIEVE can be found at AchieveNY.org and the ACHIEVE Facebook page.