Walkers endure heat for Lily Pad benefit

ALBANY — Mary Martinez could make a pitch to star in the Wonder Woman superhero movie that’s scheduled next year.

Sure, Martinez’s organization, the Lily Pad, is known throughout Southwest Georgia for the good work its staff does in helping women and children deal with the aftermath of abuse. But it took a superhero’s power of persuasion to get more than 250 participants to circle the track surrounding Deerfield-Windsor School’s Web Memorial Stadium in better-than-90-degree heat Saturday morning to raise funds for the assault center.

“It was amazing; we’ve definitely taken this to the next level,” Martinez, the Lily Pad’s executive director, said after Saturday’s “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event. “We don’t have a total yet of how much money we raised, but this is our signature event each year. And we’ve been growing each year.”

Everyone from Marines to law enforcement officers to firemen to bankers to teachers to air conditioner technicians were on hand for Saturday’s fundraiser, despite a blistering heat that set in early and refused to yield.

“Our group’s (Meow Kapow) singer (DeAnna Verneau) works at the Lily Pad, so we put together a team to come out and support her,” musician Tim Smith, donning an elegant black cape, said. “We support DeAnna and we support the Lily Pad. It’s a great organization.”

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ismael Favela admitted that he did no prep work in heels to get ready for Saturday’s event.

“I wanted to be a part of this; it’s a good thing to support an organization that helps women who have been violated,” Favela, who is stationed at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany, said. “It’s my first time of doing something like this, but I feel it’s important to support the community.”

MCLB-Albany’s base sexual assault response coordinator Marcus White said the Marines were happy to help out a community partner.

“We call on the Lily Pad, work with them as partners, so we definitely want to support them,” White said. “We’re here at this event to support them the way they support the base. The lily Pad is such an important facility for this community.”

Martinez, meanwhile, said the fun of “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” does not diminish the seriousness of the Lily Pad’s mission.

“The things we deal with are part of a sad, horrific time in individuals’ lives,” she said. “But the community always has so much fun with this event. We get a lot of kids and families who participate. This is a national fundraiser, but we always get such a tremendous outpouring of love from the community when we hold ours.”

Bryce Barfield, Ben Kirkland and Ricky Lawrence finished, one, two, three, respectively, in the Fastest Walker competition, while Joe Clark was declared the winner in the Hot Legs competition. The Regions Bank team won the award for collecting most money for the Lily Pad, while Joel Callins took individual honors for most money raised.

Martinez had said early Saturday that more than 125 runners had signed up for the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” fundraiser, but by event’s end that number had swollen past 250.