Walk for Hunger: My first fitness+fundraising adventure

I’ve done “fun runs” in the past.  I’ve even finished a few 5ks.  But this is something new.

I signed up as a walker for the 20-mile walk around Boston.  I might be crazy.

My first fitness+fundraising event will be the Walk For Hunger, the oldest continual pledge walk in the country.  It is the main fundraising event each year for Project Bread, a Massachusetts-based charity dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts.

I’ve never done an athletic event to raise money.  I know so many people who do, but between my lack of athletic ability and my discomfort at asking people for donations, it never happened.

I found out that our company has a pretty big walking team (and a lot of volunteers) for the Walk For Hunger, and I wanted to spread the word among my colleagues.  I figured I couldn’t tell people about it without doing it myself!

So, I signed up.  I donated a little bit of money to get things going, and then I spread the word.  I posted it on facebook, my gchat status, and twitter.  I posted information on my cubicle to let my colleagues know they could walk, volunteer, or pledge a donation.

There are three main ways to participate for the Walk for Hunger on Sunday, May 6th:

As a walker:  You can sign up to walk part of or all of the 20-mile route.  If 20 miles is too much for you (and maybe it might be too much for me, we’ll see!) there are shuttles at each of the checkpoints to take you back to the starting/finish line in Boston Common.  I have a colleague who pledged per mile, because he doesn’t think I can walk the whole thing.  Well, I’ll prove him wrong!  You can join as an individual walker, start a walk team, or join a team with friends, family, or colleagues.  As an added incentive to walk, there will be refreshments and entertainment all along the walk route to keep you going!

As a volunteer:  If you’re not keen on walking, there are plenty of other ways to help out.  Check out these descriptions of possible volunteer opportunities.

With Donations:  You can donate to an individual walker or volunteer or make a general gift to the Walk for Hunger.  Like I said earlier, I’ve never personally done one of these fundraising events before.  So I was overjoyed to see how many of my friends from work, school, and twitter were willing to support the program by donating through me!

If you’d like to donate through my page, I would be so thankful!

Many of my twitter pals already donated!  So I’d like to thank them here:

• Joe Taxpayer, who generously pledged a matching amount! (@JoeTaxpayerBlog)
• The Weekly Grind (@TheWeeklyGrind)
• The Frugal Toad (@thefrugaltoad)
• Moxie Avenger (@moxieavenger)

Everyone else who donated so far is not on twitter (to the best of my knowledge).  But thank you all so much!

Have you ever participated in a walk/run/jog/dance for hunger/curing a disease/raising awareness/etc.?  Are you participating in the Walk for Hunger this year?  Do you hate me for making a post that all lead up to me asking you for money?