Thiel College fraternity's walk to help UPMC Children's Hospital Free Care Fund stops in Freeport

A Thiel College fraternity on a 100-mile walk benefiting the Free Care Fund at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh made an overnight stop at a Freeport church Friday.

About 30 members of Phi Theta Phi made it more than 50 miles on foot from the Greenville college and through several communities before resting at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Parishioners offered the walkers a home-cooked Italian meal complete with pasta, sauce, salad, bread and dessert.

“We just like to help out however we can,” parishioner Denny Revi said. “That’s what we are supposed to do, I think. They’re going through an effort to help the children. We’re just helping them in their effort.”

The church has been a rest stop for the walk-a-thon for many years.

“It’s great because we get a chance to stop walking for a minute, rest and regain morale with the group,” said Jamir Mitchell, a Thiel senior who served as chairman for this year’s walk.

Jeremy Meyer, a Thiel junior who is assistant walk chairman, commended the church for its support.

“They treat us very well,” he said. “These are lovely people. They take us in every year, cook us a great dinner, and everybody’s super kind.”

Some of the other areas the fraternity went through Friday included Mercer, Grove City, Slippery Rock and Butler.

Walkers headed back out on the road around 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

They planned to travel through Freeport, Harrison, Tarentum, Brackenridge, New Kensington and make a stop at an Arnold fire department for lunch before going to Springdale, Cheswick, Harmar, Oakmont and ending at the hospital in Lawrenceville.

Alle-Kiski Valley residents were able to help by giving to the walkers as they pass through their communities and stand at intersections.

This year marks the 53rd annual walk for the fraternity. It has raised more than $1.7 million for the hospital’s Free Care Fund.

Phi Theta Phi is among the fund’s top 10 or 15 donor organizations, according to Rachel Petrucelli, president of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation.

“It’s a huge source of funds for our Free Care Fund,” Petrucelli said. “More importantly, it’s the spirit of the way they do their fundraising that invites a whole community across a hundred miles and unites several communities to give back and help kids and their families in need. That spirit of giving, we all need it more than ever.”

Phi Theta Phi started the walk in 1968. It was not held last year because of the covid pandemic. In its place, the fraternity did a 100-mile walk around the college’s track and collected donations from Greenville residents, Mitchell said.

They were able to raise about $10,000 at the time. This year’s goal was $20,000.

Mitchell said they collected more than $17,000 as of Friday night and considered bumping the goal to $24,000 by the time they got to Lawrenceville.

On its 50th anniversary in 2018, the walk raised a total of $52,000, boosted by an alumnus who offered $25,000 if the fraternity raised that much on its own.

The Free Care Fund relies on donations to help ensure the hospital’s commitment to providing for children’s medical costs regardless of their family’s ability to pay or lack of insurance, Petrucelli said. The fund benefits those who live within a 250-mile radius of the hospital.

Typically, about $1.8 million to $2 million is donated to the fund annually, going toward the $15 million to $20 million in free and uncompensated care the hospital gives each year, she said.

Mitchell said walkers are encouraged by the stories they hear along the way from families who have benefited from the Free Care Fund.

“Hearing that and what we do means to them is just so heartwarming,” he said. “We want to give back to the people who give to us.”

Meyer said the fraternity is able to connect communities across 100 miles and bring them together for one cause.

“Not many groups are able to do that,” he said.

Those who want to help but might not have seen the walkers can contribute online via justgiving.com.