{"id":109415,"date":"2026-03-21T19:18:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=109415"},"modified":"2026-03-21T19:18:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:18:49","slug":"take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mark your calendar: Sunday, May 17, will be the first annual Take My Hand Walk, organized by the Julia Zepkowski Memorial Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>The free event is set to take place at Marvin Park from 1-3 p.m., using the park&#8217;s perimeter as the walking course.<\/p>\n<p>There will be a DJ, prizes for each lap completed, and dozens of partnering organizations and businesses providing fun activities along with helpful resources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is something we have wanted to do for the last few years,\u201d says foundation board member Jennifer Zepkowski. \u201cWe\u2019ve been attending walks and mental health-related events in other counties, but this will be the first one in Tioga County.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191702\/Hand.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-109417 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191702\/Hand.jpeg\" alt=\"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May\" width=\"500\" height=\"647\" srcset=\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191702\/Hand.jpeg 500w, http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191702\/Hand-232x300.jpeg 232w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>Zepkowski is the mother of Julia, who struggled with mental health and depression during her teen years and, unfortunately, succumbed to suicide at 15 years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to do everything possible to prevent a similar tragedy from happening to another family,\u201d Zepkowski adds.<\/p>\n<p>The mission of the Julia Zepkowski Memorial Foundation is to spread awareness about mental health and suicide throughout Tioga and Broome Counties.<\/p>\n<p>The Foundation has organized successful cornhole and golf tournaments over the last couple of years. The proceeds help provide scholarships, fund youth programs and other local organizations, and assist with individual and family needs in the Southern Tier.<\/p>\n<p>To date, they have donated over $180,000.<\/p>\n<p>2026 will be the first year for this mental health walk event in Owego, with plans to continue annually.<\/p>\n<p>This event will be FREE for the public to attend and to participate in the walk \u2013 the Foundation wants to provide this fun, family-friendly experience for the very community that has supported them in so many ways over the last four years.<\/p>\n<p>Local businesses and organizations interested in participating are encouraged to send a request to: <a href=\"mailto:TiogaCountyNYKids@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TiogaCountyNYKids@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mark your calendar: Sunday, May 17, will be the first annual Take My Hand Walk, organized by the Julia Zepkowski Memorial Foundation. The free event&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":109416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark your calendar: Sunday, May 17, will be the first annual Take My Hand Walk, organized by the Julia Zepkowski Memorial Foundation. The free event...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-21T23:18:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"292\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/\",\"name\":\"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-21T23:18:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg\",\"width\":292,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\",\"name\":\"psadvert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"psadvert\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"Mark your calendar: Sunday, May 17, will be the first annual Take My Hand Walk, organized by the Julia Zepkowski Memorial Foundation. The free event...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2026-03-21T23:18:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":292,"height":200,"url":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"psadvert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"psadvert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/","name":"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-21T23:18:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/21191652\/524658038_10238723635132653_5177671192177388513_n.jpg","width":292,"height":200,"caption":"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/03\/21\/take-my-hand-mental-health-fun-walk-planned-for-may\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Take My Hand; Mental Health Fun Walk Planned for May"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492","name":"psadvert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"psadvert"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109418,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109415\/revisions\/109418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}