Weekly Spark #249: Walk With Purpose
Welcome to The Weekly Spark, my weekly newsletter featuring insights on mental and physical wellness, intentional living, and personal development. Since September 2020, I’ve published 249 reflections hoping to motivate myself and others to live more thoughtful, purpose-driven lives.
June 13th, 2020. What a day. 5 years ago today, many of you on this newsletter and close friends of mine participated in Walk With Purpose: a run/walk/bike uniting people to raise money for Philabundance, a Philadelphia based food bank. This was one of the most fun days of my entire life and something that I reflect on often. When I first started Candlelight Conversations, my three pillars were People, Service, & Growth. This day had all of those things, provided purpose, and was a shining light for myself and many others during what was otherwise a dark time for our world during Covid.
Many of you were with me then and participated, but of course I’ve met many new and friendly faces in the last five years, so I’ll provide a bit of a background/refresher on the project. The event was inspired by two things that I love: walking and service. As I was navigating life during Covid, like many other folks, I was spending more time outdoors on walks than I used to. Whether it was walking myself, catching up on the phone with a friend while walking, or walking at a social distance with one of my friends who was in the area, I fell in love with walking. Those of you that know me well know that me saying “I love walking” is an understatement 🤣
The other and larger inspiration for the event was to do something service oriented. Service played a huge role in my time at Saint Joseph’s University. It was inspiring to visit communities in Roanoke, VA, Bluefield, WV, and neighborhoods in the Philadelphia region. Most of this service was community based and in person, which I didn’t see as possible at the time. I wanted to do something that was safe and would bring people together for a common good, and saw a fundraiser as a safe way to support an organization that was working to address a vital need during the time (and still is): food insecurity.
Now, for the event itself. One day I was walking and thought about adding some meaning to the steps and bringing people together doing it. Participating was easy. For one, donating to Philabundance was a direct and tangible way to support the mission. Secondly, people could walk/run/bike wherever they were and by doing it remotely, people all around the world could participate in their own Walk With Purpose, thinking about the mission of the event and service for others. It was heartwarming for people to send me their pictures participating in the event and see the widespread scale that we had achieved. For myself, I opted to walk a marathon around Mechanicsburg, PA, where I was joined by 15 close friends and my dad (including doing 16 miles with my buddy Adam), who met up with me at various checkpoints as I trekked throughout my hometown. This was so inspiring and a memory that we will all cherish together. The blisters and fatigue were all worth it. 127 participants in 17 states and 3 countries. $3700.70 raised providing 7400 meals for families in need. One community.
Since then, I’ve been able to organize a few service projects or fundraisers, mainly focused on the Central PA Food Bank, but admittedly haven’t done as much as I would have liked to or that I’m called to do. I had ideas that never came to fruition. Now that we celebrate all that has recently happened and all that is to come, that will change next week. My next project will be focused on supporting an organization that is near and dear to mine and my family’s heart. Like Philabundance and the Central PA Food Bank, it addresses a crucial need in today’s world: youth education and leadership development. I look forward to sharing with you and generating support and awareness for another impactful organization.🙏
To close, I’ve shared the recap video from Walk With Purpose below. Recently, I have found myself rewatching it and inspired by the beautiful and generous people that supported the mission then. As I said, this was one of the most fun days of my entire life and I have probably never felt more fulfilled going to bed than I did on that day. For those of you that joined me on the day, maybe this will be a fun trip down memory lane. 😊
Mental Diet
Quote of the Week:
“Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. If you are enjoying The Weekly Spark, please share with a friend, family member, or coworker who you think might benefit. If you have thoughts, comments, or feedback, please reply to this email and share them; I’d love to hear from you! Until next time… Take care of yourself and take care of each other. 🙏
Nathan
