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As I sat down to put together some written thoughts about last week’s Walk for Life, I came down with a huge case of writer’s block. I sat and stared at my screen for longer than I’d care to admit. My struggle to get started was not due to a lack of content—it was quite the opposite, actually. I felt overwhelmed by the numbers, community support, fluidness, and overall impact of the Walk for Life event. How could I adequately recap such an event that so many people had worked so hard to put together?
So after staring at my blank Google Doc page for a while, I decided to do a little bit of cheating. I pulled up the Care Center’s blog and searched for the first post written after the 2016 Walk for Life, curious as to what highlights we chose to focus on. And this is what I found:
Our annual Walk for Life event this year was phenomenal. We had triple the number of supporters this year than last, we raised over $50,000, and we launched our first ever mobile ultrasound unit!…We hope to see this event only grow in the future. Who knows, we may see 1000 people come out to raise awareness and support for the Care Center in 2017!
Yes. That’s what I needed. A reminder of where we were to help put in perspective where we are now.
So in light of the highlights from last year—$50,000 raised, a mobile unit launch, triple the supporters, and hopes of a larger event in the future—let me share with you the mind-blowing highlights from this year:
Highlight #1: We raised almost triple the amount we raised last year.
With the help and dedication of more than 60 walk teams, we raised over $136,000. To put that number in perspective, that’s 113 moms who can now be empowered to choose life for their unborn children. And that’s just our preliminary number. Donations are still rolling in, both on- and offline, and will continue being accepted towards the Walk throughout the month of May.
Highlight #2: Almost 1000 people came out to walk.
We used to be able to fit this event into the parking lot of the Care Center over on N. Elm. But in the last few years, we’ve seen exponential growth and now find ourselves packing out Center City Park in Downtown Greensboro, allowing for more exposure and more connection with our city. Greensboro is hearing about GPCC and rallying behind our mission. Need some examples? Here are just a few: Pepsi sponsored by providing 5000 free drinks; Qdoba provided free chips and salsa; Taqueria de Azteca and Homeslice Pizza (local food trucks) came and donated portions of their earnings to the Walk; Joy Squad East provided a photo booth for participants; Stitch FX provided everyone’s snazzy t-shirts; OneSource provided our incentives for fundraising; and Congressman Mark Walker attended and spoke about the value and mission of the Care Center. And of course, we can’t fail to mention the overwhelming support of the churches who provided the manpower, enthusiasm, and fundraising savvy to make the Walk awesome.
Highlight #3: We are on track to see 1000 clients this year AND to move to a new location (Phase 2 of our Strategic Plan)—and the success of the Walk is a huge part of this.
I’ll be the first to tell you that money isn’t everything. But I do believe that for a nonprofit organization that receives no government funding, it’s a pretty good indicator of the level of dedication of our community partners and church supporters. The overwhelming hard work and generosity of both our fundraisers and donors are what enable us to operate our mobile unit, move to a more strategic location, and provide free services to our clients—all for the ultimate goal of empowering women and men to face their unplanned pregnancy without fear and to choose life for their unborn children.
Moving Forward
If you want to know where a person’s heart is, look at that person’s checkbook and also what he or she does with free time. With the exponential growth we’ve seen at the Care Center over the past year—growth in financial generosity and growth in the selfless giving of time and resources—I can only conclude that Greensboro’s heart for the unborn and for women and men in unplanned pregnancy is growing, as well. Real conviction always manifests itself in action.
And last weekend’s Walk for Life was a beautiful example of just that.
I can’t wait to see how hearts for our mission will continue to grow as we move further into 2017.
Mary Holloman is the Communications Assistant at GPCC. She has a devilishly handsome husband and two kiddos: a 2-year-old son and a daughter due to arrive any day now. When she’s not at the Care Center, Mary enjoys writing, making her son giggle uncontrollably, DIYing, and Diet Mountain Dew. You can follow her on her personal blog at www.AllMySpringsBlog.com.
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