Take The Walk – Orlando

Saturday May 18th, IDEAS hosted the Take The Walk event in Orlando. Take The Walk is a foundation, created by the band Hanson, made to encourage individuals to come together and take action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic and poverty in Africa. The Walk is an event where participants walk one mile barefoot to publicly demonstrate how many people in the world live without basic necessities. Every mile walked raises funds to support one of five real causes that will make a difference, with one dollar donated by the Take The Walk campaign for each walker. Because many of the issues with HIV/AIDS and other diseases are closely linked to the lack of clean drinking water, I chose to donate our proceeds to Blood:Water Mission, a non-profit organization that builds clean water wells in Africa.

Along with walking, TOMS shoes and Rebuild Globally Sandals were made available for purchase. Both organizations are dedicated to giving back to people that are less fortunate. TOMS has a one-for-one policy meaning for every pair of TOMS bought a pair is donated to a child in need, and Rebuild Globally is a nonprofit organization that began shortly after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti that trains local Haitian artisans to “repurpose post-consumer products (tires and trash) into hand-crafted tire sandals and handbags.”

Twenty-four people pre-registered for The Walk and fifteen registered the day of the event. The Walk began at 11am and participants walked south down Orange Avenue, east across Washington, north on Rosalind and back to IDEAS on Concord. Once we got back, we indulged in some post-walk goodies and took some photos (below). The Walk was a great success and just goes to show that if you want to make a difference and help others in need, there are simple ways of giving back- all you have to do is act. I would like to thank all participants for coming out and showing their support. I would also like to thank those that donated to the cause that weren’t able to join us at the event. If you would like to donate, please email me at rhodges@ideasorlando.com for more information.