Members of the school community attended the OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center Walk ‘n’ Run for Hope 5K on April 30 in order to support each other following the recent losses of Jonah Anschell ’23 and Jordan Park ’25.  

The walk was sponsored by the OUR HOUSE Grief Center. Over the past three decades, the organization has been organizing walks, support groups and games to assist grieving individuals, according to their website. Approximately 180 members of the school community attended the walk, according to Counselor Michelle Bracken. The walk took place at Woodley Park in Van Nuys from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m, and over 1000 people came to the event in total. If families could not attend, they could donate to grief support for communities in Los Angeles, Bracken said in an email.  

OUR HOUSE Volunteer Roen Beiley ’25 said it was meaningful witnessing the community come together to show their support.

“The Harvard – Westlake group was the biggest group put together out of the whole Run for Hope event and being able to be a part of this was definitely special,” Beiley said.

Beiley said the walk had a particularly encouraging and heartwarming environment.  

“The walk united the HW community in many different ways, not just by all coming together and taking time out of people’s weekends, but also [by] showing support for loved ones from the community [who] will forever be in our hearts,” Beiley said. “My goals for the event were to get as many people as possible from our community to come out and support a very good organization.”

Bracken said although she was unable to attend the event, it was a successful way for members of the community to support each other.

“The walk was an opportunity for our community to come together in memory of members of our community that have passed and to support an organization that helps families after a loss,” Bracken said. “The act of walking together and taking time to remember the members that are no longer with us is a way of healing together.”

Attendee Leo Craig ’24 said he greatly appreciated the design of the event.

“I enjoyed being at the 5k with my teammates and friends, and running near the front with my good friend Franklin Wimbish,” Craig said.  “The organizers of the race set up motivational signs next to the path that I’m sure helped many people get through the race and reassured them that they can endure through processing a hard loss like they endured through the race.”