Great Participation for the Walk Hope Survive 2016 Walkathon—Samantha Nelson

Dear Friends,

I’m so happy to announce that our first ever walkathon has been more successful than we anticipated. Thanks to our volunteers and all the willing participants, all the work was done to make this event something to remember. Mary Jo had a great team of people in New York, while Shyleene pulled together the largest crowd in Texas for the Latino Division. There were also volunteers in MD, AL, AR, WY, Romania, South Africa and many other locations. Special thanks to Aurora, Mary Jo, Kate, Tammy, Shyleene and many others for all their hard work!

And a special THANK YOU to all the participants and donors who made this a success! Enough funds have been raised to help us cover a portion of another month of Mary Jo’s salary, and to provide much-needed support to the Latino Division.

There were 28 adults (2 are missing in the pic) and 15 children/youth (2 are missing in the pic) – for a total of 43 people participating in this event in Texas to benefit the Latino Division and $300 was raised/pledged for this event! One participant wrote:

“Saturday afternoon (8/27/16) a nice group of people, children, adults and elderly members from Burleson Spanish Seventh-Day Adventist Church participated in the walkathon to support the awareness of Clergy Sexual Abuse. During the walk we discussed the importance of The Hope of Survivors to the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy, and at the end we joined in pray for The Hope of Survivors ministry and for the leaders of churches to be blessed and to continue to be faithful to the call. Was a good experience to participate in the 1st walkathon for Hope.”–Carlos Rosero

Mary Jo, who helped coordinate the walks said, “It was a beautiful day in Buffalo, NY, to participate in a walkathon. Meeting at our house on Saturday morning, 16 of us walked around the neighborhood, ending up back at our house for a cookout. Friends and family participated who have been a great support since being involved with The Hope of Survivors. $800 was raised that will go toward raising awareness and victim support. Everyone had a great time and I thank all the participants, donors, and prayer partners!”

The crowd in Wyoming was small but energetic and included the youngest participant in the combined walkathons. If I hadn’t been out of state and not had so many other events taking place leading up to this walk, I would have had more time to promote it. Hopefully next year we will have a much larger crowd!

Additionally, two lovely ladies met in Silver Springs, Maryland, and walked 5K at their local park to help raise awareness of clergy sexual abuse. They also raised donations that will help continue the fight toward prevention.

“The walk was fantastic. Our kids joined us. It was great.” These are words from a woman whose family of four jumped at the chance to participate in Walk Hope Survive all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa. Walking through their neighborhood showed their dedication to raising awareness of clergy sexual abuse that was also revealed in their donation.

If you missed your chance to participate this year, we hope you will start planning now to join us next year. The event will take place in August again and you can choose any date you’d like in August to get a group together to walk with you. Updated forms will be available in the next few months. In the meantime, you can still support The Hope of Survivors by keeping all of us in prayer and by making a contribution to help us continue to assist victims of clergy sexual abuse worldwide. Thank you so much for your support!

God bless you,
Samantha Nelson
CEO