GiveLight Foundation’s first Walkathon was held on November 13, 2010. It took place at Shoreline Park and was an astounding success.

It was a cool and crisp morning in November.

I arrived at Shoreline Park, Mountain View at the crack of dawn and found five of our team members already working happily downloading items from cars: stacks of bananas, apples, and oranges donated by Sprout Market and Trader Joe’s.

Bagels from Bagel House and Noah Bagel. Donuts from Phsyco Donuts and hundreds of goodie bags filled with granola bars and offerings from sponsors.

This was the first time ever we were doing a walkathon. It’s a simple idea that requires months to prepare. Fortunately for us, we have a team of amazingly dedicated volunteers who did everything from planning every single detail to executing the plan so well. We were not sure how many people would actually join the event but set our goal at 250-300. What a wonderful surprise to see over 400 people coming together to support the cause. Seventy five of them were walk ins, which cause a slight delay in the start of our program.

The day unfolded beautifully with the first ray of sunlight. No doubt it was a blessing from God as it had been raining and cold for weeks prior to the event. We were ready for the worst but was rewarded with the best case scenario. By 8am all of the tents and tables were set. We had abundant food and coffee from Peets. Speaking of which, we always thought Peets was a cool place to hang out with friends but after this act of generosity our love for Peets has definitely increased.

    I think the best part of the event was that it attracted all kinds of people : single, young, old, mothers, fathers, kids, grand parents, babies on strollers and toddlers. Some were trained athletes – some such as myself have not run in years. But we were all there, happy and excited to enjoy the nature, being with family and friends and to honor some of the neediest members of the human family: orphaned children of the world.

The winner for 10 K run was Jean Pommier and for the 5K it was Farman Syed.