RaeRae of Light will be hosting its 4th Annual Rae’s Hike for Hearts in Glendale this December.

Community will come together in Thunderbird Conservation Park setting in north Glendale in support of RaeRae of Light and Phoenix Children’s Hospital Center for Heart Care. RaeRae of Light is a volunteer-based family operated nonprofit founded in 2020 in memory of baby Reagan, who was born to the Norris family of Peoria with a critical congenital heart defect and lost her battle at only 6 months old.

“Our mission is to raise awareness and fund research for CHDs and to help other children born with heart defects and to provide individual financial assistance and resources to families as they navigate the journey with their medically complex child,” Reagan’s mother, Amy, told the Independent in June of this year.

Amy is a 2023 Hometown Hero from the Peoria Independent and will be honored at a luncheon in February.

Rae’s Hike for Hearts goes from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2 at Thunderbird Conservation Park, 22800 N. 59th Ave., in Glendale. Hikers can specify a person, group, or business for whom they’d like to hike.

The hike is approximately 45 minutes on an easy-to-moderate trail, great for families and pets. Enjoy coffee and donuts prior to the hike and water and snacks afterward.

Choose to enter for raffle prizes graciously donated by vendors and supporters.

The family’s Rae It Forward-Direct Family Support program supports children and their families battling CHD by assisting with medical expenses, household needs, utilities, gas, food, clothing, or other support the family needs. The program also works to create awareness by promoting the newly released Arizona Congenital Heart Defect specialty license plate that directly funds CHD research at Phoenix Children’s Hospital Center for Heart Care.

Visit https://raeraeoflight.org/hike-for-hearts to register for the hike.