Audrey Giuliano walks to help end hunger

Published in the March 29, 2018 edition

By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — Not all superheroes wear capes. Nor must they possess bulging muscles beneath their Under Armour to make an impact on the world.

Some are petite and soft-spoken kitten-cuddling great-grandmothers imbued with a passion for a cause and the conviction to make a difference.

Such is the case with Audrey Giuliano. At 80 years young, she has a pep in her step and the energy of a woman half her age, which helps her keep up with Traci, her tiny ragdoll kitten, and her large, extended family. A big reason behind her vigor is her desire to see no child go to bed hungry at night.

This is why she supports Project Bread and will soon travel to Boston to participate in The Walk for Hunger. It will be her 20th consecutive 20-mile walk.

The Walk for Hunger is the signature event of the nonprofit organization and the event on Sunday, May 6 will mark a significant milestone in Project Bread’s history as well, its half century mark.

Married for 61 years to her childhood sweetheart, Jerry Giuliano, he could not be more supportive of his wife’s efforts to end hunger. The pair frequently complete each other’s sentences and can be found training together nearly every day at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield. They raised four children, three daughters and a son, Terri Long, Karen Marie Patterson, Audrey LeBourdais and Jerry Michael Giuliano.

“We have 14 grandkids and 10 great-grandchildren and one great on the way. It is exciting,” Audrey said.

Adds Jerry, “The grandkids, the youngest is Danny and he’s 21, and the oldest would be Jennifer.” Audrey finishes his thought, “She’ll be 41 this year. We’re very fortunate. They’re all healthy and they all have food on the table. That’s the thing that really concerned me the most when I did the first Walk for Hunger. I saw the signs all along the way that said how many children under the age of 5 were hungry and it just really got to me. So I said I am going to continue to do this and try to raise money every year.”

The fact is, according to Project Bread, more than 726,000 Massachusetts residents don’t have enough food to eat.

Over the years, Audrey estimates she has raised more than $15,000 total, all through word of mouth, family members, friends, co-workers and now, her Facebook page. For the past several years, she has raised just under $2,000 per walk. This year, she has set a modest goal of increasing that amount to $2,500.

A highlight for her during last year’s walk was being stopped by a Project Bread staffer with just a few miles left on her journey.

“I was on the 18th mile and there is always a checkpoint there and a little beyond the checkpoint a woman that works for the walk stopped me. She said they would do a highlight on me,” Audrey recalled. Her story is posted on The Walk for Hunger web page.

Asked how she prepares to go from walking about 3 1/2 miles a day to 20 miles in one day, she said, “You know, there’s a point where you say, ‘oh, can I do the rest?’ And then you usually have a walking partner, and I’ve been walking the last five (years) with my granddaughter Julianne, so we’ll encourage each other to continue to walk.”

She added, “The hardest part is at mile 18, but then you say, ‘Well, I’m this far I’m certainly not quitting.”

The Walk for Hunger passes through many iconic Boston neighborhoods. “It changes each year,” Audrey said. Jerry adds, “More or less it starts on Beacon Street at the Public Garden and then it goes down Comm Avenue through Newton, West Newton, Brookline, all the way to Heartbreak Hill.”

Audrey recalls, “It’s not the same (as the marathon route) but is does cross at some point.

So, is it really a heartbreak? “For the runners, it is,” Jerry says.

“Of course,” adds Audrey, “but we’re walking it so it is not the same.” Audrey is impressed by the wide range of people of all ages who participate in the walk. Her granddaughter’s friend, Sam, had been joining them for about five years. “The last time that she walked she was six months pregnant and she insisted on walking the whole way. This year she is not walking because now she has two little babies,” she said.

Last year, Audrey’s daughter Karen walked with them but her walking partners don’t always complete the entire route. “I have more of a reason or a commitment to myself to do it than they do. And I think a few times they just walked to keep me company,” she explains.

For those times when her partners need to bow out, Jerry is there to join in. Usually, he is content to stay in the background because the walk provides a special bonding time for his wife with their kids or grandkids.

How long does it take Audrey to walk 20 miles? She laughs and says, “It used to take six hours. Now these days it takes eight, but we stop and stretch more often. We always take the lunch break at the 10-mile mark. They give you a sandwich and a drink and then we’ll stretch before we move on. At a lot of the checkpoints we just stop and stretch.”

“They are really good about that,” Jerry said. “They have water along the route and they have the volunteers cheering you on and encouraging you to continue.”

“It boggles your mind that even people in North Reading go hungry. Why is that?” Jerry asks.

Audrey believes it is a lack of awareness. “A lot of people don’t know. The people that know others are having problems want to help. But people don’t always want the help because they’re too embarrassed, which is really a shame,” she said.

Proceeds from The Walk for Hunger benefit several hundred food pantries throughout the state, including the North Reading Food Pantry which is operated by Christian Community Service (CCS), a non-denominational all-volunteer non-profit that provides help to about 100 North Reading families and individuals per month, without regard to religious affiliation, in any.

Audrey and Jerry are both semi-retired now, after running their own business for several decades and moving from Billerica to The Greens in 2001. A few years later, they picked up a second career as real estate agents when their daughter-in-law, Maureen Giuliano, founded Classified Realty in North Reading in 2006.

“The two of us said we would help her if we could and she said you can’t unless you get a real estate license,” Jerry said. So they did. “It was only the three of us and now, 11 years later, she has three offices, in North Reading, Wakefield and Reading, and 30 agents,” he said.

It is that can-do attitude that is so endearing about Audrey and Jerry. They set their mind to a goal and achieve it. Married at 19 when Jerry entered the service, they have remained partners throughout life. On their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple, Jerry recalled, “I didn’t have much, but I gave her a wildflower and a candy bar.”

Audrey adds, “We used to take the iron rack out of the oven and put it on a couple of bricks outside and put wood underneath it and cook hotdogs.” When family would visit them they soon learned that coins would magically appear in the sofa cushions, which they would hunt for after their guests left.

“With that change we would buy something special, like the hotdogs, or go to the movies,” he said. Audrey adds, “The movies were a quarter at the base. But as poor as we were, we never went hungry.”

To support Audrey’s 20th Walk for Hunger campaign, visit www.projectbread.org/walk-for-hunger and plug in her name to find her secure giving page.