CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte couple is trying to build something great, by starting with one step.
Birdella Hall-Walker and her husband Randall along with several dozen others donned bright green t-shirts and walked through Freedom Park Saturday morning.
“The temperature is high, the energy is great, and we’re glad there’s no rain,” Hall-Walker said with a laugh.
The couple founded a Pineville-based non-profit called “Friends Who Care”. The mission of the organization is to improve education, bridge racial gaps, and break economic disparity, Hall-Walker said.
But now, Hall-Walker has a new goal: to provide a place to enrich the lives of senior citizens.
“My heart and my passion is for seniors,” Hall-Walker said. “To help them relive some of their dreams.”
Friends Who Care has a large multi-purpose space in Pineville which is used as a safe haven for youth in the community, hosting tutoring and after-school services. They also hold monthly breakfasts, fundraisers, and service projects, bringing together members of the community and elected officials, police officers, and community activists.
Hall-Walker said the new mission is to raise money to create a senior daycare, offering educational and enrichment opportunities.
“I believe what we can do with the daycare is to get them back to life,” she said.
On Saturday, Friends Who Care held a ten-mile walk-a-thon to raise money for the senior care center.
“We’re all coming together in unity,” Randall Hall-Walker said. “It’s really a joy to make an impact in the community and touch lives.”
This is the second year the organization has hosted a walk-a-thon fundraiser.
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