Christina Vandermeulen was the headline attraction at Amovate’s Country and Western Hoedown held at the Pétanque Club in the Churasqueira Mendes last Saturday, May 23rd.
Christina was walking tall after raising $2,000 for needy children and their families with her epic trek from Cape St Vincent to Fatima.
The Amovate member, 61, and from Vale da Telha, received the final donations following her 400km walk which began at the Cape on April 18th and ended in Fatima on May 2nd.
Cheques of €100 from Amovate, €50 from the association’s Keep Fit Club led by Bob Packham and €50 from Antonio Ramos, head of the Pétanque Club, were presented to her.
And all of this came on the heels of sponsorship during the walk and from well-filled collection boxes in our local bars and restaurants (Christina sends her heartfelt thanks to the owners of these establishments), and of course deposits in the account she opened at the BPI bank in Aljezur.
The presentations at the Hoedown brought the total up to €2,000, which Christina then handed over to Donna Fernanda Agapito and Caterina Rodrigues Pereira from her target charity, Conferência de Nossa Senhora D’Alva, Aljezur.
This is a purely local division of the international St Vincent de Paul Society, set up to help Aljezur families in urgent need of support.
“I am overwhelmed,” said Belgian-born Christina, whose husband Leo accompanied her on the walk, driving ahead to organise meals and overnight stops.
“The final total exceeded my wildest expectations and I am so grateful for all the support I received before, during and after my walk. This made all the exhaustion—and all the blisters!—really worthwhile.”
Steve Scott, of Amovate’s Entertainment’s Committee hosted the presentation ceremony, describing Christina’s charity walk as “a magnificent feat—on her magnificent feet”.
He joked that Christina was already prepared to sign up volunteers to join her in a similar walk next year!
Almost 100 people attended the Hoedown and BBQ which began at 3pm and went on until after sunset, with dancing and singing to the country and 60s music of Just John.
The event, which was also warmly embraced by the Poertuguese members of the Pétanque Club, was a huge success and Amovate’s entertainment committee promised to do all they could to repeat it next summer.
