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11th annual education walk raises cash for schools

Posted on October 18, 2007October 18, 2007 by Staff

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

This Saturday, thousands of people will walk down Franklin Street in support of the 11th annual Walk for Education.

The fundraiser benefits the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation, which supports Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

to the event, Chapel Hill-Carrboro students collect donations from friends and family members. Students are awarded prizes for their fundraising efforts.

Last year, students raised about $50,000. Corporate sponsors also help with the event through donations of raffle prizes or t-shirt funds.

“We’ve had wonderful participation in our community,” said Kim Hoke, director of the Public School Foundation. “It takes a lot of different people working together.”

The first Walk for Education was organized in 1997 by Public School Foundation board members.

“We needed a fundraiser that could sustain itself and be done year after year after year,” event founder Ellen Virchick said. “I also wanted an event that didn’t require the children to sell junk food or gift wrap.”

Before the first Walk for Education, the foundation held about three or four fundraisers a year, which took a toll on the organization’s small staff, Virchick said.

“I just thought it would be good to have one big event.”

Although only a few people were involved in organizing the first Walk for Education, the event was a success.

“Nobody expected anything to come of it,” Virchick said. However, “from the very first year, it raised money.

“Once we did that first one and people saw how successful it was, a lot of people just sort of jumped on the bandwagon.”

The event has grown exponentially over the last 11 years, with nearly 3,000 participants last year.
“It’s become an institution,” Hoke said. “It is a huge event.”

One of the benefits of the event, Hoke said, is that it is run almost entirely with donations, so virtually all of the money raised goes directly to the Public School Foundation.

“We try to make this as cost effective as possible,” she said.

In 2004, the foundation added the Race for Education, which is a 5K race run the morning before the walk. The race winds through the UNC campus.

Participants can register the morning of the race, which starts at 9 a.m. Cost is $30 per person.

There is no registration for the walk and all community members are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Walk for Education participants will gather at McCorkle Place on UNC’s campus prior to the walk, which begins at 3 p.m.

The walk will be led by the Carrboro High School band and will end at the Lincoln Center, where participants can enjoy a carnival.

Shuttles will run from Phillips and Culbreth middle schools starting at 1:30 p.m. They will return from the Lincoln Center during and after the carnival, which will end around 5:30 or 6 p.m.

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