Walkers For The Poor Show Wealth Of Concern For Others
Is there an easy way to raise more than $20,000 to help those in need across the Diocese of Evansville?
It seems so; it’s called the 6th Annual Walk for the Poor, which benefits St. Vincent de Paul conferences in the diocese. Organizers expect the event, held on the grounds of Evansville State Hospital, to net more than $20,000.
Bishop Charles M. Thompson welcomed and thanked the 213 who formally registered for the walk, blessing them and many others who participated on their way. Walk organizers shortened the event to a total of one mile out of concerns for severe weather.
Vince Brenner, a longtime supporter of St. Vincent de Paul’s efforts to help the less fortunate, arrived as he always does for this event – dressed at the saint himself. After visiting with Bishop Thompson, he wished the walkers well as they headed off from the starting line.
Volunteer Joann Hussman provided the following preliminary report on the event:
A total of 213 registered walkers participated – a number well in excess of what the weather suggested could happen.
In all, 44 sponsors contributed $16,775 this year.
Walkers contributed $8,257, and others left messages saying that, although the weather kept them away, they would make their donations by mail. As a result, organizer expect approximately $9,000 in total walker contributions.
Organizers kept expenses as low as possible, in part due to wonderful donations of in-kind food and services. As a result, the 2013 Walk for the Poor will net more than $20,000 for use by St Vincent de Paul conferences this coming year.
One of the volunteers donned a brown paper grocery bag and led pre-race ceremonies as Phillip D. Food-Bank, the mascot of sorts for the annual walk. In thanking everyone who braved rainfall that sometimes reached torrential proportions, he noted that the St. Vincent de Paul food bank serves 1,100 monthly – or roughly 70 percent of all the people served by food banks in the greater Evansville area.
