Dear Walkabout Community,
Last year we formed the Walkabout Education Foundation in order to focus the efforts, passions and intelligence of the larger Walkabout Community into a singular agent for change. We believe that a Walkabout education is the greatest gift a high school student can receive. Our mission is to pass on this gift to the next generation of Walkabout students. Today, our work in achieving that mission gets a little broader, and the possibilities, even more exciting.
Since its inception, Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES has provided a wonderful home for Walkabout. Despite the program’s tremendous success, however, Walkabout’s funding model (as a part of BOCES) has been an annual uphill battle. After a long and hard-fought effort, BOCES is no longer able to offer the Walkabout program. One of the reasons we formed the Walkabout Education Foundation as an independent entity, was in preparation for this day. In recognition of the program’s 37 years of success, BOCES has offered its full support of our mission to continue the work of Walkabout in a new home and in a new form.
We have assembled the beginnings of an excited and energized team that has already started the work of designing and launching the next phase of Walkabout. This team includes Walkabout staff and alumni, fundraisers, innovators with corporate experience, like-minded professional educators, and Eugene.
We look forward to your support in the upcoming months. On June 14th, we will host our second annual Runabout Festival:
https://www.facebook.com/events/461158424013382/
http://walkabout.org/2014/03/23/join-us-for-th…l-june-14-2014/
Please join us on June 14th for the largest gathering of the Walkabout community ever in celebration of Walkabout’s first 37 years, and kick off the next 37.
Thank you for helping us achieve our mission over the past year, our collective efforts have already seen significant success. Walkabout 37 would not have happened without the support of our community. I hope you can come to Runabout and meet Walkabout 37, the amazing, newest generation of Walkabout students.
We’ll be reaching out for your help over the upcoming weeks and months, but in the meantime, if you would like to get in contact with us, please email support@walkabout.org. If you would like to make a donation, please visit: http://walkabout.org/donate
Ben Wild
Walkabout Education Foundation
http://www.walkabout.org
Walkabout Alumni Association 