The men’s baseball and women’s softball teams of Aurora University will be waking up a little earlier than usual on Saturday morning to walk alongside several hundred other community members as part of Wayside Cross Ministries’ annual Walk A Mile In My Shoes event.
About 75 Aurora University athletes will be walking, Aurora University Head Baseball Coach Adam Stevens said, “raising about $2,000 to $3,000” for Wayside Cross.
Over the last several years, the walkers have faced varied weather conditions including bitter cold, snow and even moderate temperatures for winter. The one-mile walk will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at the John R. Harkness Family Center, 60 S. Fourth St. in Aurora.
“The purpose is to simulate the daily challenges of the homeless,” Rebecca Monrean, the Church/Donor Development Manager with Wayside Cross Ministries, said. “Homelessness is not seasonal, it happens all year-round. Sometimes it happens more frequently than we care to realize.”
The money raised from the event will go to support two Wayside Cross Ministry programs — the Lifespring Ministry, a transitional living center for women and women with children, and the Urban Youth Ministry, which is a program for at-risk youth.
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Lifespring Ministry provides basic living needs for all free of charge. Over the last year, the ministry served 46 women and children, Wayside Cross officials said.
The Urban Youth Ministry offers programs for children free of charge including after-school programs, an eight-week summer camp, a winter program and the Aurora neighborhood baseball program which supports about 160 kids who otherwise could not be part of a baseball league, Monrean added.
Urban Youth Ministry Program Coordinator Robin Sterkel said the after-school programs include young school age children all the way up to high school students.
Some students first come as participants when they are young, she said. When they are older some come back to volunteer with the younger kids, helping them with homework or crafts, and some go on to become paid staff members, she added.
“We develop a really strong relationship with the kids and their families,” Sterkel said.
Sixth-grader Enrique Lessner, who participates in all four programs offered by Wayside Crosses’ Urban Youth Ministry, said he enjoys taking field trips in the summer with the group and playing second base on one of the baseball teams.
On Thursdays, he participates in the after-school program, however on Fridays he returns to volunteer his time playing games with younger kids and helping with crafts.
There is no minimum requirement that walkers need to raise to participate in the fundraising event Saturday, Monrean added.
After the walk, a pancake breakfast will be prepared by the women who are currently living at Lifespring Ministry.
Some of the youth who are part of the Urban Youth Ministry will be working at the breakfast, she added.
“It helps to put faces to those you serve,” Monrean said. “The kids come and help and talk with the guests.”
For more information on Saturday’s walk or to donate, go to www.crowdrise.com/walk-a-mile-in-my-shoes-2018
Cathy Janek is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.