Are you ready to take part in a Hemophilia Walk? You may have heard your mom or dad talk about this, but you didn’t realize kids could help out, too. Well, you can!
Your local National Hemophilia Foundation chapter may hold a Hemophilia Walk every year to raise money to help kids and adults with hemophilia, von Willebrand disease or other bleeding disorders. The Walk also teaches other people about bleeding disorders. The Walk is usually in a park, with lots of people. You may even see babies in strollers and dogs on leashes.
Get started
First, get permission from your parents to do the Walk. Then you and your parents can start asking your family and friends to walk with you. Think of a fun and cool name for your Walk team. Some people name themselves after hemophilia, like the HemTeam or Hemo Warriors. A lot of teams even get T-shirts made with their team name.
Once you name your team, your parents can help you get on the Internet and create a Web page at hemophilia.org/walk. All the people on your team will start asking their friends to give money, called “donations,” to help people with bleeding disorders. On your Web page, a thermometer will keep track of your donations as they grow bigger and bigger. Your parents can help you set a goal for how much money you want to raise. You can have fun checking your thermometer every day to see if your team raised more money.
Get Creative
Besides asking people to give donations, think of creative ways to raise money. Maybe you can hold a yard sale and sell some old toys, books or games you don’t need anymore. Set up a lemonade stand in front of your house on a hot summer day. Ask a local store if you can put a can on the counter for customers to drop change into. All the money you earn will go toward the Walk.
To get ready for the Walk, you and your friends can create colorful posters that tell people your team name. You can carry them during the Hemophilia Walk to show other teams who you are.
Now, the day of the Walk is here! You’ve worked so hard raising money and telling people about bleeding disorders. While you wait for all the walkers to arrive, there will be fun activities. There might be a mascot from a local sports team, face painters, games or music. (These fun activities are often waiting for you after you finish the walk, too.) There will be many other kids and adults there, so you’ll be able to make new friends. Before you know it, all the walkers will be ready to begin the Walk. Ready, set, go!