Families and supporters will gather at Jim Dietrich Park on October 25 to remember babies and raise funds for bereavement care
The Adalyn Rose Foundation will host its flagship Empty Stroller Run and Walk at Jim Dietrich Park in Reading on Sunday, October 25, with registration opening at 8:30 a.m. and the 5K run beginning at 10 a.m. The annual event gives families and supporters a meaningful place to honor babies and young children while raising funds for comprehensive and continuous bereavement care.
Founded in Berks County after Chloe and Adam Ciferri’s daughter Adalyn was stillborn, the Foundation has grown from a local effort into an organization serving families through hospital partnerships and ongoing programs across the country. Reading remains the heart of the Empty Stroller Run and Walk and the Foundation’s largest annual family gathering. Many participants choose to walk or run with an empty stroller as a visible symbol of a child’s absence. An empty stroller is not required, and the event welcomes loss families, friends, healthcare professionals, and community supporters.
“Families tell us again and again that this day feels less like a race and more like a celebration of their babies,” said Chloe Ciferri, Founder and Executive Director of the Adalyn Rose Foundation. “It gives people a place to say their babies’ names, gather with others who understand, and help make sure the next family does not have to walk through loss alone.”
The 2025 Empty Stroller Run and Walk campaign raised more than $150,000. Proceeds support hospital remembrance resources, memorial cost assistance, therapy assistance, peer support, support groups, care packages, ongoing remembrance programs, and bereavement education.
Thank you to our 2026 Adalyn’s Halos corporate sponsors, Diamond Credit Union, Penn State St. Joseph’s Medical Center, and Penn State Lancaster Medical Center, for their generous support of the Adalyn Rose Foundation and the families we serve.
Event details
- Date: Sunday, October 25, 2026
- Time: 10 a.m.
- Location: Jim Dietrich Park, Reading, Pennsylvania
- Options: Timed 5K run and community walk, with youth registration available
- Registration: runsignup.com/Race/PA/Reading/EmptyStroller5K
About the Adalyn Rose Foundation
The Adalyn Rose Foundation provides comprehensive and continuous care to families grieving the loss of a baby or young child during pregnancy, infancy, or early childhood. Care begins in the hospital and continues long after discharge through Remembrance Carts and keepsakes, memorial cost assistance,
therapy assistance, support groups, peer connection, ongoing remembrance programs, and bereavement education. The Foundation partners with 50 hospitals nationwide and works to ensure families feel supported, remembered, and never alone. Learn more at adalynrose.org.
