NAMIWalk - St. Cloud 2012
This year's NAMIWalk in St. Cloud was another success. Planning has begun for a mental health walk in St. Cloud for 2013. Thanks to all who participated on the Planning Committee, Sponsors (Health Partners Central Minnesota Clinics; Regional Diagnostic Radiology; Nystrom and Associates; Centra Care/St. Cloud Hospital; St. Cloud Surgical Center; Crafts Direct; Catholic Charities; Opportunity Services; Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 290; Brenny Transportation; W3i Holdings, LLC; and the Patrick Spellacy Agency), Donors, Volunteers, and Walkers for all your hard work and devotion.
NAMIWalk - St. Cloud 2012
Our hardworking NAMIWalk committee worked for a year to make this event successful. It was a fun time and we did great!! Our goal for the event is to educate people about mental illness and reduce stigma. We did that by having over 40 signs with mental health facts placed along the path, speeches from one's whose life has been affected by mental illness, a spirit of camaraderie, and a Silly Hat Walk for kids. While the final figures are not in, we know that we had 347 walkers, 27 teams, 20 sponsors, and we raised over $20,000. Tee shirt contest winners: 1st We Have A Dream Team; 2nd NAMI North Central Region; and 3rd Team Red Cloud. A good time was had by all.
NAMIWalk - St. Cloud 2011
The committee members that met for 10 months to plan out NAMIWalk (Andy Vinson, Kyle Darnall, Phillip Lee, Shani Perera, Rhonda Karels, Jolene Simmons, Kathy Robbins, Deb Stueve, Jeanette Witham, Cecil Huston, Reggie Adams, and Nick Johnston) were all pleased with the support shown by our sponsors, contributors, agencies, NAMI members, consumers, family members, NAMI/MN staff, and other NAMI affiliates. Hard work and dedication pays off. Committee members have agreed to start planning next year’s Walk to make it bigger and better than this one. We invite other NAMI Affiliates to start planning now to join us next year.
Corporate sponsors included: HealthPartners Central Minnesota Clinics, Regional Diagnostic Radiology, St Cloud Surgical Center, St Cloud Hospital/CentraCare Health System, Opportunity Services, and Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Chapter 290. Contributors included Coborns/Cashwise groceries, Viking Coke, and Shopko. Kat from radio station KCLD was our emcee.
Weather was perfect for walking our 5 K trail in Whitney Memorial Park in St Cloud. Twenty-six teams registered online and over three hundred walkers were present. Participants arrived from as far south as Prior Lake, as far east as Washington D.C., as far north as Little Falls, and as far west as Fargo to participate in the Walk. Those gathered were enthusiastic. John Jordan and Rick Stang provided great musical entertainment. Lori Long, local mental health advocate, and Jeanette Witham, Central Minnesota Mental Health Center, provided heartwarming speeches about the need not to be ashamed of your mental illness but to embrace it, use all your available tools in recovery, and to educate others about mental health disorders to reduce stigma.
The winners of the tee shirt design contest were: 1st place - We have a Dream Team, Cold Spring; 2nd place - Team Red Cloud, St Cloud; and 3rd place - RSI Carriage Hills, Cambridge. Team Red Cloud had the most walkers present with over thirty.
Activities for children included face painting, balloon hats, balloon swords, and other miscellaneous shapes and sizes as well as the "Silly Hat Walk". Kids brought their own silly hats from home, wore a balloon hat, or chose from a variety of donated silly hats, and then walked/ran around the baseball field to be greeted at the end by cheers from the adult walkers and parents. Big smiles rewarded those who cheered the kids on.
Corporate sponsors included: HealthPartners Central Minnesota Clinics, Regional Diagnostic Radiology, St Cloud Surgical Center, St Cloud Hospital/CentraCare Health System, Opportunity Services, and Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Chapter 290. Contributors included Coborns/Cashwise groceries, Viking Coke, and Shopko. Kat from radio station KCLD was our emcee.
Weather was perfect for walking our 5 K trail in Whitney Memorial Park in St Cloud. Twenty-six teams registered online and over three hundred walkers were present. Participants arrived from as far south as Prior Lake, as far east as Washington D.C., as far north as Little Falls, and as far west as Fargo to participate in the Walk. Those gathered were enthusiastic. John Jordan and Rick Stang provided great musical entertainment. Lori Long, local mental health advocate, and Jeanette Witham, Central Minnesota Mental Health Center, provided heartwarming speeches about the need not to be ashamed of your mental illness but to embrace it, use all your available tools in recovery, and to educate others about mental health disorders to reduce stigma.
The winners of the tee shirt design contest were: 1st place - We have a Dream Team, Cold Spring; 2nd place - Team Red Cloud, St Cloud; and 3rd place - RSI Carriage Hills, Cambridge. Team Red Cloud had the most walkers present with over thirty.
Activities for children included face painting, balloon hats, balloon swords, and other miscellaneous shapes and sizes as well as the "Silly Hat Walk". Kids brought their own silly hats from home, wore a balloon hat, or chose from a variety of donated silly hats, and then walked/ran around the baseball field to be greeted at the end by cheers from the adult walkers and parents. Big smiles rewarded those who cheered the kids on.
