St. Vincent De Paul’s Walk for Poor set for Sept. 19

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Looking to once again help locals in need, St. Vincent de Paul hosts its annual Friends of the Poor Walk from noon- 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, starting and finishing at Carrie Blake Community Park, 202 N. Blake Ave.

Registration opens at 11:30 p.m. the day of the walk.

There is no fee to participate in the walk, organizers note, but donations are encouraged and welcome.

Organizers say that more than 95 percent of funds raised at the event go to directly support those in need. Funds raised by the Sequim walk go the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Sequim and will be used to help those in need who live within the Sequim School District boundaries.

The walk begins near the park’s picnic shelter. Participants have the option of walking short loops within the park or as far as Whitefeather Way on the Olympic Discovery Trail (about a 5-mile, round-trip course).

“With the funds raised from the walk, we are able to help those who call us with a wide variety of requests,” walk coordinators Ella Sheppard and Mike McAleer said,

“Especially during the current crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, the needs of the marginalized are critical as it pertains to food, clothing, medicine, housing assistance, utilities and transportation costs.”

Sheppard and McAleer note that, because of struggling economic conditions, St. Vincent de Paul’s needs will increase by 20 percent.

“Winter is a difficult time for those in need,” they said.

For more information or to contribute to the walk as a business sponsor, call Sheppard at 360-683-0948 or McAleer at 360-477-0837.