The Easton police and fire departments and Easton Emergency Medical Service will participate in the Virtual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event tomorrow, Thursday, April 23 at 2:4 5 p.m, to support the Center for Family Justice.
Police Chief Rich Doyle, dispatcher Tara Candee and emergency personnel will walk north on Morehouse Road, ending at Easton Town Hall, where they will meet with Town Hall employees and First Selectman David Bindelglass.
All personnel will be take appropriate precautions by wearing masks and observing proper social distancing. Donations may be made to the Center for Family Justice through the Easton Police Department team page.
Proceeds will benefit The Center For Family Justice’s Camp HOPE America — Bridgeport program. Following is the Easton Police Department Team donation link: https://walkamile.centerforfamilyjustice.org/teampage.asp?fundid=1004#.XqCmbWkpAzY
Easton’s first responders join Gary MacNamara, executive director of public safety & government affairs at Sacred Heart University and the former police chief of Fairfield, in supporting the fundraiser. MacNamra has led Walk a Mile in Her Shoes events as its chairman since its inception in 2013, along with the White Ribbon Task Force, a group of male community leaders dedicated to breaking the cycles of domestic and sexual violence.
A virtual walk party will take place on Saturday, April 25, as CFJ’s eighth annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event. The watch party will kick off at 9 a.m. on CFJ’s Facebook page, @CenterforFamilyJustice, and feature leaders and sponsors of this year’s virtual fundraising and awareness event.
They include Debra Greenwood, CFJ’s president & CEO, and MacNamara, who will stress the continued importance of supporting the thousands of victims and survivors CFJ serves annually during Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Awareness Month. Also joining the Watch Party will be Todd Pelazza, director of public safety at Fairfield University; Don Morrissey, president of Aquarion Water Co; and Brenda Kupchick, first selectman of Fairfield.
Sponsored by Aquarion Water, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes 2020 has a goal of raising $40,000 to support Camp HOPE America-Connecticut, Bridgeport, CFJ’s therapeutic summer camp and year-long mentoring program for local youth impacted by domestic and sexual violence.
The virtual walk takes the place of the actual walk CFJ held for the past seven years in downtown Fairfield. CFJ encourages others to take personal fundraising walks and engage in other creative efforts to support the Bridgeport-based nonprofit.
CFJ’s supporters can get involved by doing the following:
- Registering to participate in Walk A Mile in Her Shoes at WalkAMile.CenterforFamilyJustice.org
- Form a Walk a Mile in Her Shoes team and create a fundraising page for that team.
- Encourage friends and family to donate in support of your efforts.
- Between April 1 and 30 take a picture or video of yourself walking in support of CFJ and share it on social media using the hashtag #WeStillWalkforCFJ. Suggestion: Wear the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes symbol of red shoes or the color teal, the official color of sexual violence awareness, to show you care.
- Send those photos to CFJ at bfitzpatrick@CenterforFamilyJustice.org.
To learn more, contact Lisa Labella, CFJ’s Director of Special Events and Community Outreach at LLabella@CenterforFamilyJustice.org
