Northern Virginia Nonprofits Join to Create Service Mini-Walk

Six Northern Virginia nonprofits have allied to put together a regional mini service walk in response to mortgage giant Fannie Mae’s decision to cancel its popular Help the Homeless Walkathon on the National Mall for 2012 and beyond.

“We had been thinking about doing something like this for a few years now and we’d already started to do mini walks at summer camps and other activities,” said Judy Pirozzi, director of resource development at Wesley Housing, a nonprofit concerned with affordable housing in the area.

In 2010, 14,000 walkers on the mall participated in Fannie Mae's event, generating $5 million for 118 organizations with an additional $1.5 million raised by 100,000 participants in 715 mini-walks, according to an article in the Huffington Post.

“Fannie Mae is expanding its Help the Homeless program,” said Fannie Mae spokeswoman Amy Bonitatibus. “In 2012, the program will transition to a community walk model that has already demonstrated a higher return on public participation and raising funds.” 

Alive!, The Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless, Carpenter’s Shelter, Community Lodgings, New Hope Housing and Wesley Housing are producing their regional mini-walk on Service Saturday, Sept. 10.

“Let’s be realistic, when all of the financial crisis impact started to really be felt about three years ago, people started to worry whether Fannie Mae would continue” to have the human resource capacity to continue the Help the Homeless Walk, said Pirozzi. “They are very supportive of the mini walk model…and they’ve been really good to so many nonprofits for all of these years. We want to remain supportive.”

The Acacia Federal Rock & Stroll will take place Sept. 10 from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Cameron Run Regional Park at 4001 Eisenhower Ave. in Alexandria.

Fannie Mae will assist the miniwalk with registrations and take care of the accounting. This year for the first time Fannie Mae is asking for a $5 administrative fee per walker. The cost of each registration has been increased by $5 so that each nonprofit will receive the same amount of money it would have earned prior to the new fee.

Underwritten by Acacia Federal, the regional event will include a BBQ lunch, entertainment by local bluegrass band Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, games and prizes.

For information on how to start a mini walk with Fannie Mae, click here.