2024 Walking With Purpose: A Record Breaking Year!
It feels like just yesterday we kicked off our Walking With Purpose initiative at Woodward School. We blinked and October was over, along with our 5th year of walking, generating awareness, and raising funds to support our mission. With our hearts full of gratitude, we want to express our sincere appreciation for the amazing participation of all who were involved—the school team at Woodward for host planning the kickoff walk, all the great captains for inspiring their teams, sponsors, donors, student ambassador Ariel, and everybody who stayed with us all month in support of Kalamazoo students.
This was a record-breaking year for Walking With Purpose. We walked the most miles ever, raised the most in donations, had the most teams and individual walkers, had our highest ever fundraising team ($10,000 and counting!), welcomed the most walkers at our kickoff walk, and more. We are so excited about the results, and the impact they will make.
Our goal was to walk 12,000-miles, representing the 12,000 students who benefit from the work of Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo (CIS) in 23 Kalamazoo schools. Working together, we exceeded our goal and walked a total of 24,027 miles!
We also have achieved and surpassed our fundraising goal of $40,000! Combined with the sponsorships received, Walking With Purpose raised more than $50,000. Each dollar will help students stay in school and achieve in life.
Thank you to the amazing team captains who led the way by inspiring more than 300 participants to walk and raise funds for kids in Kalamazoo. We also had walkers who joined the initiative as individual participants—thank you!
Our Walking With Purpose student ambassador Ariel provided fun and inspiring video and email messaging throughout the month. During our last conversation, Ariel mentioned how sad she was that the initiative was over. However, she was excited to hear that it was only a temporary farewell. We have great plans to see her throughout the year, check in, and share messages from her in the upcoming months.
If you are interested in supporting Walking with Purpose, our donation page will be live until the end of the year. Your contributions help us continue this essential work with Kalamazoo students. You can donate here.
Thank you to this year’s sponsors for making Walking With Purpose possible.
Presenting Sponsor: Lake Michigan Credit Union
Supporting Sponsors: Allkins Family Foundation, CWS Financial Advisors, FEMA Corporation, Fifth Third Bank, Flowserve, Old National Bank, and The Kalamazoo Promise
In-Kind Sponsors: Defined Lines, Gazelle Sports, Graphix 2 Go, Inc., Husted’s Farm Market, Imperial Beverage, and Maestro
At CIS, “community” is not just in our name or mission, it is central to everything we do. We believe in the power of community—coming together for a shared cause—supporting students so they can stay in school and achieve in life. That is exactly what was accomplished through Walking With Purpose. Thank you again to all who were a part of it!
Tags: CIS, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Walking With Purpose
