On Oct. 10, Carle Place resident Richard Fenster began a 450-mile walk on a quest to raise money and awareness for the Rotary Gift of Life Program, which provides life-saving heart surgery for needy children from around the world. His walk, which began in Petersburg, VI, will not just end in Jericho, but with a wedding as well - his own.

At 11 a.m. on Oct. 24, Fenster, a 1979 graduate of Carle Place High School, plans to complete his walk at the Ronald McDonald House at Long Island Jewish Hospital where he will visit with ailing children. At noon, he will begin an eight-mile run, dressed in a tuxedo, to the finish line on Jericho Turnpike near the corner of Brush Hollow Road. At that time, he will marry his girlfriend Maria Vila-Real.

This year's venture is similar to one Fenster participated in more than three years ago when he completed an incredible 1,100 mile journey on foot from Florida to New York. His goal in 2001 was to raise $20,000 for Gift of Life, a non-profit corporation administered by participating Rotarians of District 7250. Through the program, doctors at participating hospitals donate their time and services for the surgeries, while money raised by Rotary funds the medical supplies and ancillary costs.

His compassion for ill children, and their families, continues to be the driving force behind his ultra-long-distance, fund-raising crusades. For further information or to make a donation to the Rotary Gift of Life Program, contact Robert Donno, chairman of the program, at 504-0830.