Many major organizations have a signature event and now foster care does too, Walk Me Home. Recently I had the opportunity to speak to Carl Jones, Director of Field Operations & Resource Development for the National Foster Parent Association. He is one of the main organizers of Walk Me Home, and has plenty of experience with organizing such events. More than two decades ago as the Executive director in Western Washington for the American Cancer Society, Jones came up with the concept of a relay to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. Meshing his idea of a relay with Gordan Klatt, MD, who wanted a 24 hour walking event, Relay for Life was born. 2008, will bring Relay for Life into its 24th year.
Walk Me Home...to the Place I Belong- America's Only Nationwide Walk for Foster Care
Dates and Locations
Kicking off nationwide in May, which is National Foster Care Awareness Month; and running through October, Walk Me Home events can be found on the official Web site. It's also possible to do a "virtual walk."Carl Jones shares more,
"We will be doing the event in 25 states and over 100 locations in its inaugural year[2008]. I don't know if there has been any other walk started on a nationwide basis before. Most of these types of walks start locally, go regional and then national. We chose to bite the bullet and start with a national event. It has been challenging trying to coordinate an event like this, but hundreds of dedicated volunteers nationwide have chosen to come together and conduct this event for an express purpose."
The Purpose of Walk Me Home
The goals for this walking campaign are really threefold, very simple, but very needed as there are over 513,000 children in foster care in the United States.
- Raise awareness for foster care, its challenges and the positive side of foster parenting.
- Develop a positive vehicle for recruitment and retention of foster parents.
- Raise much needed funds for awareness, advocacy, education and support for foster families nationwide.
The big goal? 1,000,000 nationwide for the children in foster care.
Getting a Team Together
There are so many ways to be involved with this worthwhile event. Simply register your team online for an event near your area. Then create your team of family, friends or co-workers. If there is not an event near you, there is an option of a virtual walk. If neither of those options work, it is possible to financially sponsor a walker or a team in your area.
Just visit the Walk Me Home Web site and choose the option that best works for you.
Fund Raising
Once you've got your team together, each member of the team is asked to raise a minimum of $30.00. Of course, if each member does not accomplish this goal, that's OK too. It's all about doing one's best for the kids in care.
Carl Jones explains how the funds benefit each area's foster children,
"The funds support the foster, adoptive, kinship and other types of families who donate their time to support children who are placed in the foster care system. If there is no foster care association in a specific area we will refer to the state association who will help local groups put the event together. There are many support groups who are not fully organized as non-profit organizations that the state associations can work with. If there is not a state association in a particular state such as Alaska, Arkansas, Utah and Delaware, we will work with the sate agencies to put a walk together."
We all can't be foster parents, but there are other ways we can help kids in care. Is Walk Me Home your way this year?
