“This is a perfect opportunity for kids to step out for a cause they can really understand.” |
Whether she walks, runs or jogs does not matter to 15-year-old Sarah Johnson. All she cares about is raising funds to find more homes for children in the same situation as her 9-year-old foster brother before he joined her family four years ago.
“I want to walk in the Help One Child Walk-A-Thon for children like my brother,” she said. “It gives me satisfaction that I can make a difference in someone’s life.”
Help One Child - an organization that finds homes and helpers for foster children in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties through local churches - has scheduled their fourth annual 5K walk/run on Oct. 1 in Los Altos. Help One Child encourages supporters to walk and solicit donations for the cause of abused, abandoned, neglected or drug-exposed children, and is especially encouraging children to participate.
“This is a perfect opportunity for kids to step out for a cause they can really understand,” Help One Child executive director Susan Kammerer said.
The Oct. 1 event has a family carnival theme with an array of games, crafts, refreshments, face painting and an inflatable slide and bouncehouse for children.
Parents can try their luck at the raffle with prizes donated by local businesses, hotels, outdoor adventure companies and restaurants.
Three grand-prize packages boast a two-night stay in an oceanview room at the Marina Dunes Resort perched on a seaside sanctuary along Monterey Bay, a two-night stay in a charming canvas bungalow at Costanoa Coastal Lodge and the chance to cruise the San Francisco Bay in a private yacht.
Kammerer said when contributing businesses provide passes to a free night’s entertainment and Help One Child contributes a volunteer babysitter, the result is an evening that foster parents may otherwise never experience.
The special drawing is limited to foster families.
“Not only are the merchants helping us raise funds for our unique programs, but they provide opportunities for foster families to get out and enjoy what other families take for granted - a night out on the town,” Kammerer said.
Help One Child is providing free baby-sitting for foster parents by a Help One Child volunteer who has received training and security clearances.
One of the non-profit’s goals is to find more homes and volunteers to support foster families so that they do not face burnout.
The 5K walk/run takes place 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 1 on the grounds of Union Presbyterian Church, 858 University Ave., Los Altos. The event includes a free family carnival where the drawing and raffle will take place.
For more information, visit www.helponechild.org.
