Roy Jay, longtime community resident and businessman, will serve as Grand Marshal of the walk.

Date: Saturday, August 18 at Dawson Park.

Activities and registration: 8 a.m.

Walk: 9 a.m.

More than 500 are expected to participate in a celebration of the community’s health and in support of the African American Chamber of Commerce‘s free physical activity classes program, which serves more than 4,000 Portland-area African Americans.

Before the walk there will be a DJ, refreshments and loads of children’s activities, including face painting, giant bubbles and a bounce house.

Pre-registration is encouraged at the African American Health Coalition (AAHC) Web site

Sponsors of the walk are Legacy Health System, Providence Health System, Kaiser Permanente, OHSU, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and New Seasons Market.

Contact the AAHC for more information at 503-413-1850.

The free physical activity classes are part of AAHC’s federally funded Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010) program. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death for all Americans, and African Americans die at a disproportionately higher rate from CVD than other groups.

REACH is part of the federal Healthy People 2010 objective to eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities by the year 2010, and the goal of AAHC is to make Portland the healthiest African American community in the nation.