Walk to Remember

The Compassionate Friends Walk to Remember is held at 8 a.m. Sunday morning in the national conference host city, prior to the closing.

First held in conjunction with the national conference in 2000, this remembrance walk has quickly become a highlight for conference goers with between 600 and 1,000 joining together hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm to cover the two-mile course arranged for the event.

The walk is a major fundraiser for the organization as corporate sponsors participate and walkers receive pledges to support the work of The Compassionate Friends.

Families that have had a child die, but are unable to walk, are invited to send that child’s name to the national office. Those names are then transcribed and printed on pages that are carried by volunteers during the walk. As many as 6,000 names have been carried during the walk in this fashion.

As an adjunct to the Walk to Remember, concurrent walks were started in 2002 to match up with the national event. Throughout the country, thousands walked to honor the memories of children who they will never forget.