Free Carnival, Fundraising Walk Helping Las Vegas Disability Community

The Friendship Circle Las Vegas is holding its annual Walk4Friendship Las Vegas community fundraiser Sunday, April 7 at the Las Vegas Sports Park. The free community event will raise awareness and funds for resources that will go towards helping those in the disability community in Las Vegas.

The Friendship Circle Las Vegas is a nonprofit organization that helps individuals in Las Vegas with special needs. Through the efforts of their volunteers, the organization provides opportunities, both social and recreational, to children and young adults in the disability community. These opportunities give those in need a chance to grow and thrive in an environment of inclusion and acceptance.

The way the program works is through partnering those in the program with teen and young adult volunteers in Las Vegas. The program members, which includes physically and intellectually challenged children, teens, and young adults, form friendships with these volunteers. By sharing experiences, all involved help foster a community of inclusion and acceptance. Which is especially vital to the individuals with disabilities, who often feel lonely because of their handicap.

The upcoming event will be held at 1400 N. Rampart Blvd on the corner at Vegas Drive in Las Vegas. It is a two-part event. The 6^th annual fundraiser walk will begin at 11 a.m., with check-in at 10 a.m. Those participating in the 1-mile walk will receive a commemorative t-shirt and giveaways. There will also be free lunch, a marching band, and guest celebrity appearances.

Related: Help Las Vegas Babies By Being A Volunteer Snuggler

In addition to the fundraiser walk, there will also be a Grand Community Carnival that is open to the public. It will begin at noon and include a zip line, mechanical bull, trackless train, rock climbing wall, a petting zoo, pony rides and more. Both the walk and carnival are free events. To register, visit www.walk4friendshiplv.com.

While the walk is free to the public, donations are welcome. To meet their 300K fundraising goal, coordinators of the event are looking for corporate sponsorships. There are many sponsorship levels. Sponsorship information is available at walk4friendshiplv.com.

The American Lung Association hosted its annual "Fight for Air Climb" event at The Strat on Sunday.

The event, known as "Scale The Strat," attracted people from across country, who gathered to raise funds and awareness for lung disease research.

Every year, the American Lung Association organizes a stairclimbing event that allows people to scale the iconic Strat Tower. The daunting climb is 1,455 steps and 108 floors. It's a journey of tribulation, success and dedication.

Upon entering the tower, you climb up a stairwell. However, this is just the warm up. Participants then line up and then are given a count down, which signifies that it's your turn to enter the tower and start the climb.

Airpods, headphones, apple watches and water are not allowed in the tower. So, this is truly an experience with you and your thoughts.

The challenge can get even more difficult when the elevation starts to change. There are water stations and oxygen tanks placed throughout the stairwell to help climbers.

The main pillar of the event is the dedication and effort that teams, businesses and people put in to raising money for the American Lung Association's cause. According to the website, Scale The Strat raised over $257,000, which will go toward lung disease research.

Another beautiful aspect of the event is the "why" aspect behind it. To wake up one day and say, "I'm going to scale The Strat," takes courage. And often, this courage is motivated by a bigger reason. As people climbed, you could see the names of loved ones stuck onto shirts. Some people wore lanyards with photos of loved ones who passes away from lung disease.

Across the country, different cities participate in their own versions of a stair climb. In New York, people scale the Penn 1 building; in Detroit, the annual stair climb takes place at Comerica Park and in San Francisco, the climb takes place at the 555 California skyscraper.

Wai Ching Soh of Malaysia had the fastest time, climbing the entire tower in 6 minutes and 43 seconds. Second place went to Ryoji Watanabe, who also scaled The Strat in 6 minutes and 43 seconds. Third place went to Jason Larson, who climbed the talent in 8 minutes and 28 seconds.

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