Miami Shores Holiday Walk 2009

The annual Miami Shores Holiday Walk hosted by The Heidi Hewes Chapter of the Woman’s Cancer Association of The University of Miami was just held this past Sunday. I like to write about this particular event because it’s a true representation of community. I’ve been involved with the WCA for several years in different capacities and it’s incredible to see such a dedicated group of individuals put their hearts and souls into events like this one with proceeds going directly towards cancer research with absolutely no overhead.

The Holiday Walk is an annual event that has become a tradition in Miami Shores. This year it was the 18th year the association has hosted the event and you need to understand how it works. Planning starts the Summer before with committees set up to organize different aspects of the walk, from volunteers, to house selection, inventory, shopping, renderings, brochure design…….the list goes on.

Miami Shores comes together as a community for a few hours and the energy can be felt whether you are participating as a volunteer, as a home owner, a sponsor or as ticket holder. The most difficult task is getting the homes and our appreciation for those home owners is immense especially considering that they are opening their homes to about 500 guests. The walk alternates each year between Miami Shores East and West side and there’s transportation provided from one house to the next. Sponsorships vary from $2500 to $100 and they are included in the program as well as a display board in one of the homes. Every penny donated is appreciated and happy to announce that the preliminary numbers for this year’s Holiday Walk are already in excess of $23,000 with donations still pouring in.

This year I was honored with the task of completing the renderings for the 5 homes on the walk – and did pen and ink drawings of each.

It’s not too late to be part of it – if you would like to make a donation, please contact me or one of our members. My grattitude goes out to every single person that participated and attended and proud to be part of this community.