November 5th 2011, that was the day that I did my first ever 5k sponsored walk, for the American Heart Association, (blog post: here).

I was going to write a piece about why I’m doing this walk, or what prompted me to choose this one specifically, but every time I try to write something, I start to cry.  It’s a sensitive topic, so I just want to say that it’s a cause that’s close to my heart and it’s one that I truly believe in – ending domestic and sexual violence.

The Houston Area Women’s Center, is a charity that the SSA (the volunteer group that I work with) has grown fond of over the years, most recently, we helped out in their Christmas shop in December, so when I did some digging and found that they had a 5k coming up, I signed up immediately.

The HAWC helps individuals affected by domestic and sexual violence in their efforts to move their lives forward.  They provide shelter, counseling and advocacy to support them in building lives free from the effects of violence.

I’d love to raise some ‘real’ money for this charity (I’m already sitting at $100 thanks to some pretty fantastic and supportive friends), but moreso, I’d like to raise awareness and have people give some thought to donating time to help out, if they can.  They do a lot of good in the community and so many people I’ve spoken to have been affected by violence, particularly sexual violence.  It’s quite scary actually!

My team – yes, I have managed to persuade (though, to be fair they didn’t take much persuasion) a few of my friends to join the team and walk with me.  Ann, Corinne and newbie to Houston, who I only met last week, Kristy, are all signed up – at this rate we’re going to need team t-shirts for the best team a gal can hope to walk with, Twisted Blisters!!

For those of you with a few bucks ‘spare’, please consider donating them to my sponsored walk for this wonderful cause!

Click here, to donate!

I started my training on Sunday, with my Goddaughter Eve and Col  – they made great walking buddies 🙂