4th Annual Walking With Purpose: Stepping Up this October!

The first signs of autumn in Michigan typically show with the cooling of the temperature, followed shortly by the turning of colors on our trees. But for us at CIS of Kalamazoo, walking (and lots of it) is our sign that October is here.

At last night’s kick-off at Woodward School, we officially launched our 4th annual Walking With Purpose challenge. We have a goal of raising $40,000 and walking 12,000 miles, collectively as a community. The goal of 12,000 miles is symbolic of the 12,000+ students throughout the schools supported by CIS. Each mile has meaning because each mile honors a student who is taking the steps necessary to walk through the door to a brighter future.

Over 240 participants have signed up to walk on a team or through their own individual efforts. As of this posting, Walking With Purpose has 32 team captains who are currently working on building their team, setting their goals, and creating opportunities for their team to make a difference for students in Kalamazoo.

Not involved and want to be? There is still time and several ways to support Kalamazoo students during this month-long challenge. Check out the Walking with Purpose page on the CIS website to find out how you can join in, as a team captain, individual participant, guest walker, or donor to a supporter’s miles.

Due to popular request, we will continue to have our weekly challenges, which are highlighted on our calendar here, and brought back the Cider and Scenery painting event. This year, the Cider and Scenery will take place at Pretty Lake Camp on October 17^th. Arrive early to walk the trails and finish with a nice evening of cider, snacks, and painting a beautiful lakefront scene. You can purchase your ticket through our event page here.

Walking with Purpose is presented by Lake Michigan Credit Union and sponsored by: Allkins Family Foundation, CWS Financial Advisors, FEMA Corporation, Fifth Third Bank, Flowserve, Old National Bank, and The Kalamazoo Promise.

This year, we also reached out to a few businesses to help provide weekly prizes, team captain gifts, and the food and beverages for our kick-off walk and Cider and Scenery. Thank you to: Defined Lines Marketing, Gazelle Sports, Graphix 2 Go, Inc., Husted’s Farm Market, Imperial Beverage, Maestro, Pretty Lake Camp, and Rose Wellbeing for being in-kind supporters!

Be sure to check in with us throughout the month on our Facebook and Instagram pages for updates and photos. For last night’s kickoff, thank you to the staff at Woodward School for hosting us, Rose Wellbeing for helping us stretch, Imperial Beverage for donating the water, and Defined Lines Marketing for taking photos! We are excited to share their photos at a later time. In the meantime, we’ll leave you with some pics that we took from yesterday’s kick-off at Woodward School. Thank you to everybody who joined last night!