Since 1975, Nebraska’s Scottish Rite Masons have funded RiteCare speech and language therapy for Nebraska kids, supporting thousands of sessions of therapy for children in overcoming speech and language disabilities, without regard to a family’s ability to pay.

On Saturday, June 18th, Omaha Scottish Rite Masons hosted the 14th annual WalkRite for RiteCare at Chalco Hills Recreation Area to support that mission. Around 100 RiteCare families and Scottish Rite Masons and their families turned out on a warm, sunny day to walk at Lake Wehrspann, enjoy hotdogs and hamburgers hosted by the Culinary Masters, enjoy face paintings by clowns, purchase raffle ticekts for great gift baskets donated by the RiteCare families, and participate in kid-friendly activities hosted by the UNO Nebraska Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association (NSSLHA). The event raised $6,500 with all proceeds going toward RiteCare speech therapy services through the Scottish Rite Foundation of Omaha.

While the event helps raise funds to continue speech therapy, it is also a celebration of the partnership between the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI) Speech Pathologists, the Scottish Rite Masons, and the families. It is a chance to have fun, show how much we care about the families, and sustain the future of RiteCare speech therapy,” said Amy Nordness, Ph.D., Director of the Speech department.

Since the Walk was first held in 2009, WalkRite for RiteCare has raised approximately $95,000 for the Clinics. This funding supports about 950 sessions of therapy for children.