WALK-INS ARE WELCOME and ENCOURAGED!

Encourage anyone and everyone to come walk with you--even if they have not registered yet.  We welcome EVERYONE to the NAMI Walk!  Grab your neighbor, spouse, friend, family member, roommate--bring someone who has not registered to the NAMI Walk!

Preparing for the Walk

Our Thermometer is Rising! 

In the last 48 hours we have raised $12,500!!

  Keep those donations coming in.  We are not done yet!  

Besides using the online tool at www.namiwalks.org/washington (see below for help on that), you may solicit checks and cash.

Bring all checks and cash to the walk in an envelope. Indicate how much money is inside and make sure to include your name on the envelope, your team name if you are a team member and which NAMI affiliate you would like the money to go to.  We will also provide envelopes on-site.
 

P.S.: If you haven't registered yet to raise money for the NAMI Walk of Washington, go to www.namiwalks.org/washington and get started!

You'll get a free T-shirt on Walk Day, May 18, if you raise just $100!

We can do it together! 

Saturday's the day! 

It's not too soon to begin to plan your day at the NAMI Walk of Washington - how to get there, where to park, what to wear.

Registration/check-in opens at 8 a.m.

The walk starts at 9:30 a.m.

Give yourself plenty of time to get to Kirkland, to find parking (which is all off-site),to walk to Marina Park, to find your team and to check in.

Park in designated off-street lots or in regular spaces on Kirkland streets. Make sure you check signs, parking regulations and time limits where you leave your vehicle.

The library at Third Street and Kirkland Avenue is a large, covered public parking area that is just three blocks from the park.

Here is a link to the Kirkland City website guide for public parking: www.kirklandwa.gov/depart/Public_Works/Transportation___Streets/Parking.htm

Here is a link to the Regional Trip Planner for Metro Transit: http://metro.kingcounty.gov

 If you arrive by Access Van, you should be dropped off at the Lakeshore Plaza Parking lot. Access will enter Marina Park and Lakeshore Plaza via Central and Market.

 Once you get to Kirkland

Follow signs and NAMI volunteers to the Marina Park Pavilion.

Enter the park from Lake Street and Kirkland Avenue or

Central and Market.

• Find your team meeting spot.
• Check in (team captains and individual walkers) at the Pavilion.
• Listen for announcements at 9:15 a.m.
•  Follow the directions of our start coordinators, line up and commence walking ingroups of 80 at 9:30 a.m.
•  This is an un-timed, non-competitive event. The sidewalks along the waterfront are shared with local residents and fitness enthusiasts. Enjoy the walk, which is a loop. A shorter turn--around is marked along the walk or those who wish to walk a shorter distance.

THE CHECK-IN PROCESS

Captains: It is a great idea to communicate with team members this week and let them know where the team will be gathering and when. We're urging captains to check in for their team and let the registration folks know how many team members are in attendance and how many of them raised $100 or more for a free T-shirt.

A team member who shows up later may check in individually.

All Walkers: Pay attention to registration signs. Captains and individual walkers who already have registered will check in in one area. Participants who haven't registered online will fill out a walk-day registration form and check in in another.

We will have extra donation envelopes, walk-day registration forms and tax receipts at the check-in area.


WEATHER

It is still a little too soon to say with certainty but we should have a day in the mid 60's.  There is a chance of rain.

Dress warmly, in layers, and bring rain-wear (just in case) and shoes that will keep you dry.

Here is the National Weather Service forecast for Kirkland. You can check this periodically as the week unfolds.

Guide to using the Walk website

Hey walkers and team leaders, we've created a guide to using the online fundraising tools for the NAMI Walk of Washington.

The guide is available online here

 www.namiwalks.org/washington

Save the date: Saturday, May 188

The ninth annual NAMI Walk of Washington will take place on  Saturday, May 18.

For the third year, the walk will be held at Marina Park in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, and the route will follow the scenic shoreline of Lake Washington.

The lovely location, a popular area for pedestrians and a well-traveled route for vehicles, brings needed visibility to the event - as does longtime radio personality and Puget Sound Business Journal columnist Patti Payne

And Patti will be joined by additional celebrities: The Mariner Moose will help kick off the walk, and popular Seattle alternative funk and soul band Down North will provide live music!

The walk is the primary fundraising event for NAMI Washington and the state's 23 National Alliance on Mental Illness affiliates. The event also serves to promote mental health awareness and remind people that NAMI exists across Washington

This year, the walk aims to raise $225,000 to help the NAMI chapters across Washington continue to offer free classes, support groups, information and referral to places of assistance.

As usual, the event will include sponsor booths, prizes, free food and music.

Last year's event attracted 1,000+ walkers.

Questions?s?

Gazala Uradnik,

NAMI Washington Walk Manager
walk@namiwa.org