Participants in the 2025 Kinney Center Walk/Run for Autism launch across the starting line with the help of the Philadelphia Eagles' mascot Swoop. The Sept. 20 event raised money for the The Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support. PHOTO: Courtesy of The Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support.
The Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support raised $70,000 in its annual Walk/Run for Autism held on the Hawk Hill Campus. About 565 people participated in the 5k run or one mile walk.
Theresa McFalls, Ed.D., executive director of the Kinney Center, said the Walk/Run is one of two major fundraisers for the Kinney Center’s work.
“The mission is twofold,” McFalls said. “It’s to train the future professionals of tomorrow — so those are undergrad and grad student workers — while providing services for families affected by autism today.”
Sarah Crill, a sophomore at Conestoga High School, was one of the youngest of the 248 people who participated in the 5k. Finishing 11th place, Crill won the title of 1st place in the Female Overall category. Crill, whose brother is a first-year student at St. Joe’s, is a cross-country and track runner at Conestoga.
“I thought it was a fun course,” Crill said. “I liked how there’s a lot of downhill in it, not a lot of uphill. It was fun going around the track and seeing the band, because my brother is in it.”
The Wawa Foundation, one of the Walk/Run sponsors, was represented by Team Wawa in the race. Rich Makin, vice president and chief fuel officer of Wawa, Inc., said the company is a big fan of the Kinney Center.
“It’s a great organization in all the spectrum that it covers in terms of its students, its scholars and then the work program that it does as well,” Makin said. “We really believe in [it]. We’ve actually had a number of Kinney Center interns work for us for the last couple of years.”
Daniel Lewis, the overall race winner, whose wife and sisters-in-law are alums, said he participated in the Kinney Center Walk/Run for Autism for the past six years, creating a family tradition.
“My sister-in-law and brother-in-law both work in the special education field, so they come and have their booths set up, promoting their schools and their programs,” Lewis said. “It’s just a good family event that we try to prioritize every year.”
Samantha Rofsky ’28 said she participated in the Walk/Run after finding out about the Kinney Center during her first year at St. Joe’s.
“I really like the walk because it takes the view of autism from awareness to acceptance and getting us closer to inclusivity,” Rofsky said. “I just think that’s really important.”