YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley’s annual Walk a Mile in Their Shoes is a light-hearted community fundraiser for serious issues. People of all ages, and genders, and from all walks of life join together to raise funds and awareness about sexual assault and domestic violence.
Funds raised through this event provide critical and life-saving support services for survivors. Your YWCA is dedicated to ending gender-based violence against all individuals.
Support YWCA’s important work and demonstrate your commitment to ending violence by joining business leaders, elected officials, professionals, educators, students, and more to walk a mile in their shoes.
REGISTRATION
$68 per walker ($58 with code EARLYBIRD10 until May 10)
$10 per student walker
Check out our Title Team and Sponsorship opportunities here.
Find more detailed registration instructions and fundraising guides here.
Registration closes at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, June 10!
If you're still hoping to join us after the deadline, please reach out to our Philanthropy Team at philanthropy@yourywca.org — we’ll do our best to get you set up!
WALK SCHEDULE
Activities and walk starts Santana Row Park (across from Left Bank Restaurant)
5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Check in - Shop and eat with discounts from our partners on Santana Row, visit with community and sponsor tables, make a sign, participate in team activities, and much more!
6:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Opening program - Event speakers, warm up, and raffle drawings at the stage
6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
WALK!
7:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Closing program & awards presentation at the stage
PARKING, INFORMATION, & MAP
Self-parking at Santana Row is free for the first two hours, and a nominal fee of $2 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum of $10. It's recommended to park at either the Olin Parking Garage at Winchester Boulevard and Olin Avenue or the Hatton Parking Garage at Hatton Street and Olsen Drive.
- The event will start at Santana Row Park (across from Left Bank Restaurant).
Questions? Send us an email HERE.
VOLUNTEER AT WALK A MILE
Thank you for your interest in volunteering for Walk a Mile in Their Shoes! Your participation is critical to the success of our event. We're offering a range of volunteer opportunities to give you plenty of ways you can get involved and show your support. Please email us at philanthropy@yourywca.org to get started.
Why Walk?
Sexual and domestic violence impacts everyone, and has life altering and costly effects for survivors. YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley provides wraparound services for survivors, centered on their individual identities and experiences.
Support services are essential to a survivor’s healing journey. That’s why we provide clinical therapy and support groups, legal services, crisis response, housing programs and more.
As Your YWCA navigates cuts to federal funding and what that means for our ability to provide critical supportive services for survivors, your participation in Walk a Mile in Their Shoes has never been more urgent!
You have the ability to make a difference by rallying your friends, family and networks to fundraise for the safety and well-being of our community members. Just as importantly, education is the first step to action, so helping to raise awareness helps make progress toward the prevention of violence.
At Your YWCA, we believe everyone deserves to live a life free from violence. Do you?
The Problem
- A sexual assault occurs every 68 seconds in the US. *RAINN
- Every 9 minutes, a child is sexually assaulted. *RAINN
- 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault in her lifetime. *RAINN
- 1 in 4 women experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner. *The Hotline
- Approximately 60% of Black girls experience sexual abuse by age 18. *Office for Victims of Crime
- 1 in 2 people who are transgender will experience sexual violence. *TEDx Talks LGBTQueering the Narrative of Sexual Violence
- In a study of male same sex relationships, only 26% of men called the police for assistance after experiencing near-lethal violence. *NCADV
Frequently Asked Questions
HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M A TOP INDIVIDUAL FUNDRAISER?
There is a Fundraising Leaderboard at the top of this page that displays the top-performing individuals and teams with up-to-date results.
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Click "Walker Sign-Up" and complete the registration to join the event. NOTE: you must 'CREATE A TEAM / FUNDRAISER' or 'JOIN A TEAM' to complete registration. If you are walking individually, choose 'CREATE A TEAM / FUNDRAISER' at checkout.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TEAM CAPTAIN AND TEAM MEMBER?
Team Captains are individual walkers that are willing to create a team to fundraise COLLECTIVELY together and who recruits other team members to join. When you sign up to start a team, you will automatically be assigned the role of Team Captain and will receive special communications about the event. A team member is an individual walker who is registering to join a team that has been created. Any funds that an individual walker raises, whether they are the team captain or team member, will be 'credited' to the individual and be collectively added to the team fundraising total.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS TO SIGN UP AS A TEAM CAPTAIN?
Select the 'Start or Join a New Team' or 'Click to start your own fundraiser for this campaign' options on the main page. Before you can fully complete registration, you will also be prompted to create a team or join a team. As the team captain, you can 'Edit Your Fundraising Page' to personalize it. Once you have set your page up, you can send the link out to start recruiting walkers from your network to join your team or request supporters to make donations to you specifically or your team overall.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS TO SIGN UP AS A TEAM MEMBER?
Click 'Sign Up' or 'Start or Join a Team' and select the 'JOIN AN EXISTING TEAM' option. After you complete the registration, you will receive your individual fundraising page that will be connected to your team page. After you receive your fundraising page link, you can start to request supporters to make donations to you specifically or to your team overall.
HOW DO I SIGN UP IF I DON'T HAVE A TEAM TO JOIN?
You can still join the walk and fundraise individually by completing registration by clicking 'Sign Up' and selecting the 'CREATE A TEAM / FUNDRAISER' option. After you complete the registration, you will automatically receive your individual fundraising page. After you receive your fundraising page link, you can start to request supporters to make donations to you specifically.
HOW MUCH IS REGISTRATION?
- Before May 12th, we will offer an EARLY BIRD discount (code EARLYBIRD10), so the registration fee is $58 per individual walker in that time period.
- On May 12th, the registration fee is $68 per individual, because in the United States, a sexual assault occurs every 68 seconds.
- For students/youth (under 18 years), we offer a discounted rate of $10.
Funds raised through registration fees, donations, and sponsorships help support YWCA’s programs and services for survivors such as shelter, therapy, legal support, childcare & more.
ATTN FUNDRAISERS: Registration fees do not go toward your fundraising total, but are counted in the overall event total, so it still supports our programs and services.
DO I HAVE TO WEAR HEELS?
No, but you can if you want to! We invite the entire community to walk with us in support of an important cause and to raise awareness about ending gender-based violence, in any shoes you’d like.
WHY IS MY SUPPORT CRITICAL?
By walking with Your YWCA, you are committing to end violence in our community. Support for Walk a Mile helps raise funds for our programs and services for survivors—and it’s support that matters!
WHAT ARE THE FUNDRAISING PRIZES?
Individual Fundraiser Prizes
$200 Raised = Walk a Mile T-Shirt
$500 Raised = Walk a Mile Cooling Towel
$1000 Raised = YWCA Tote Bag
$2500 Raised = YWCA Water Bottle
$5000 + Raised = Complimentary Tickets to YWCA Events for 1 year
Top Fundraising Awards
• Top Individual Fundraisers: 1st – 5th place
• Top Sponsor Team Fundraisers: 1st – 3rd place
• Top Community Team Fundraisers: 1st – 3rd place
• Top Student Fundraiser: 1st place
• Top Title Team: 1st place
IS THERE A FUNDRAISING MINIMUM?
No. We appreciate any effort, even if it is just registering to walk! However, this event is an annual fundraiser for Your YWCA, and the funds raised help ensure our services to survivors remain uninterrupted.
HOW ARE DONATIONS MADE?
Donations can be made directly from the Team or Individual Page so they are counted towards the Team Fundraising goal.
Checks can be made payable to YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley and mailed to 375 South Third Street, San Jose, CA 95112 (mention Team/Walker name in the memo line please.)
No cash will be accepted onsite.
WILL SHOES BE AVAILABLE/WHERE DO I GET SHOES?
This year we will have a station where you can donate to YWCA to get your pair of heels from a limited inventory that you'll be able to wear this year and for years to come. Otherwise, participants are invited to show up as they are! For those who already have their own pair, or specially-crafted shoes, please wear them—we look forward to seeing them.
HOW AM I HELPING?
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes is a light-hearted event to raise awareness about a very serious issue – gender-based violence. The walk raises much needed financial and community support for survivors of violence and sexual assault. Your donations help us provide emergency shelter, childcare, medicines, counseling, legal aid and so much more!
CAN I FUNDRAISE AFTER THE WALK?
Of course!! We will not stand between you and your fundraising prowess! Your fundraising page will remain open for 3-4 weeks after the walk. If you need more time, just let us know.
WHAT IS YWCA’s TAX ID?
Our tax id is 94-1186196
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YWCA?
Click here to read our annual report.
WHO IS THE BEST CONTACT IF I NEED HELP?
Philanthropy Team: philanthropy@yourywca.org
