What is the Ari Foss Foundation Memorial Walk & 5K?

The Ari Foss Foundation Memorial Walk & 5K is an annual event dedicated to honoring babies gone too soon and supporting the families who carry their memory. Each October, our community gathers in Park Circle, Charleston, to walk or run together in love, remembrance, and unity.

The day is filled with heartfelt connection — featuring local vendors, food trucks, live music, kids’ activities, and a touching remembrance ceremony. Whether participants choose to complete the 5K or join the memorial walk, the event brings our community together to raise awareness for pregnancy and infant loss while supporting the Ari Foss Foundation’s mission of healing, remembrance, and hope.

What is the Ari Foss Foundation?

The Ari Foss Foundation was started in honor of our son, Ari Foss Silverman. Ari was our first child. Ari was our beautiful baby boy. We were so excited to meet our little man. Ari was born on July 30, 2014 at 10:06 pm. Ari never cried though. Ari never took a breath. Ari had no heartbeat. Our son was gone. We were devastated and attempting to grasp what happened. In an instant, we went from what should have been the happiest moment of our lives to experiencing the worst, most tragic moment of our lives.

Ari’s memory lives on through the Ari Foss Foundation helping families when the unthinkable happens.

Ari’s Parents,
Aaron and Laura Silverman

Why We Are Fundraising

The Ari Foss Foundation currently partners with the Medical University of South Carolina and Roper St. Francis Healthcare to assist families who request help covering funeral or cremation expenses. Our goal is to expand this Cremation and Funeral Financial Assistance Program to serve families across the entire state of South Carolina.

To do this, we’re using South Carolina’s Perinatal Regionalization System, which divides the state into five Regional Perinatal Centers (RPCs) that care for the highest-risk patients. MUSC currently serves eight counties, and the remaining RPCs are:

GHS Greenville Memorial Hospital
McLeod Regional Medical Center of the Pee Dee
Palmetto Health Richland
Spartanburg Medical Center

As funding allows, we plan to expand into these four additional RPC hospitals — ensuring our services reach the families who need them most. From there, we will continue growing until we can offer support statewide.

Our fundraising directly fuels this mission in two ways:

Financial Assistance: Ensuring we have the funds needed to cover cremation and funeral costs so no grieving family is ever turned away.
Operational Support: Providing resources for staffing, outreach, and educational materials to sustain and grow the program.

Every dollar raised brings us closer to offering comfort and hope to families across South Carolina.

Our Event Sponsors

GOLD SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

Our Hospital Partners

Ari Foss Memorial Walk & 5K

October 3rd, 2026