Record Walk for Justice Planned
Annual Fundraiser Expected
To Be Largest Yet
by Cynthia Moothart
The
social justice movement in Minnesota will get its annual shot in
the arm next month, as the Headwaters Walk for Justice takes to
the streets for a day of fun and fundraising. In the last decade,
the Walk has grown into the largest gathering of progressive organizations
in the state. Last year, about 1,500 individuals representing 110
organizations collectively raised more than $212,000. But with
registrations already exceeding the 2006 goal of 130 groups, this
year’s Walk promises to be
the largest yet.
Unlike many fundraising walks that steer pledges toward one organization
or a single goal, each group that participates in the Headwaters
event benefits from the money they raise. The event targets grassroots
nonprofits and small community groups, but organizations of any size
working for social justice are invited to participate.
“The walk provides a unique opportunity for the progressive
community to come together to celebrate its work, to increase visibility
and to raise money for critical issues in our community and state,” says
Headwaters Executive Director Steve Newcom. “With the midterm
elections this fall, it is particularly important that the grassroots
community be visible, vocal and supported.”
St.
Paul resident Larry Lubbers has been a dedicated walker/fundraiser
for disability rights organization Advocating Change Together (ACT). “People
with disabilities have it rough,” Lubbers says. “That’s
why I do the Walk. It changed my attitude about people. It changed
me into being a better person—to respect everybody. I see a
lot of people in public who still make fun of me. That doesn’t
happen at the Walk. The Walk helps me help everybody else who can’t
help themselves.”
Through
the Walk, ACT has raised $15,460 over ten years for programming
and services. But this year the group has set a more ambitious
fundraising goal—$5,000. Lubbers is historically among the group’s
top fundraisers.
“If [Gov. Tim] Pawlenty is going to be in office another year,
I need to raise more money,” Larry says. “We’ve
got to change policies—a lot of them.”
Participating
organizations span the social spectrum—in size,
issue area and geographic region. Small organizations like the youth-focused
Naming Project—which raised a tenth of its annual budget through
the Walk last year—mingle with major groups such as NARAL and
the Minnesota Environmental Fund. Groups working for children’s
safety, decent public schools, access to health care, and immigrant
rights in Minnesota walk alongside organizations dedicated to eradicating
poverty globally.
“Sometimes people define ‘community’ as the state
or the city or the country in which they live, but where do you put
a boundary when people need help?” says Mary Steiner Whelan,
director of Give Us Wings, a Minneapolis-based group that funds community-development,
education and health projects in Africa. “The Walk for Justice
strengthens our community by strengthening our common values.”
Those values are on display in a big way each September.
“I remember looking back and seeing all the walkers—all
those groups, all those people standing together,” says Mary
Beaudoin, executive director with Women Against Military Madness,
which has participated in the Walk every year. “Seeing it visually
and participating in it is a statement—and an inspiration.
It’s nice to know other organizations are working on similar
issues—justice—because we all need to work for that.”
This year’s Walk for Justice runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30
p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17. The three-mile route begins and ends at Boom
Island Park in Northeast Minneapolis, but individuals who don’t
feel they can complete the loop still can raise money for their organizations
and participate by cheering their group on at the finish line.
To register your organization
and begin raising money or to sign up as a volunteer, call 612-879-0602,
ext. 19. To support a group, go to the Walk Web site — www.walkforjustice.org — and
scroll through the organization list to make an online donation,
or contact the organization directly.
The Headwaters Foundation
for Justice has been supporting Minnesota-based grass-roots organizations
through its grant-making and organization assistance programs since
its founding in 1984. Go to www.headwatersfoundation.org to
learn more. ![]()
