Capuchin Heart & Sole: Launching a Walk-a-Thon From Scratch

In June 2024, a Capuchin friars' ministry in New York held its first walk-a-thon on a high school track. Its own account of that morning, and of the second year that followed, is a practical model for any group starting a walk from nothing.

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What a lap pays for

The organizer was the Province of St. Mary of the Capuchin Order, through Capuchin Family Ministries. The 2024 event page said "funds raised will support Capuchin Appalachian Mission and Summer Outreach programs," and spelled out what that means: clothing, household and school supplies for people in need; Vacation Bible School; visits to isolated seniors; repairs for homeowners who can't afford them; and building bunk beds for children who need them.1

The ministry's summer recap shows the scale of those programs. That summer's Outreach Week brought 36 teens and 16 adults to a retreat center in Wappingers Falls, New York, for nursing home visits, Bible school and bed building; the ministry says it has built and donated 200 beds to children in the Hudson Valley. The Appalachian Mission's 31st trip took 42 teens and adults from four states to Harlan, Kentucky, for home repairs and senior ministry.2 The recap doesn't say how much of that the walk paid for, but it gives walkers a concrete answer when a sponsor asks where the money goes.

The first morning: laps, cornhole and $52,000

The province "held its first-ever walk-a-thon fundraiser on June 15" 2024, at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains. Walkers "spent the last hour circling the track or playing cornhole, Kan Jam, and other fun family-friendly activities." "Our community sponsors and teams of walkers grossed $52,000," the ministry reported, and "all the proceeds went to support our service projects in Appalachia and the Hudson Valley."2 In the same recap, the province announced it would hold another walk the following spring.

"Grossed" is the honest word. The ministry reported its total before costs and didn't publish its expenses. A first-year event usually carries one-time setup costs, so the net matters even more the first time around.

How the first year was put together

  • A borrowed track. The walk used a Catholic high school's track instead of a public route: measured, enclosed, with no city permit or road crossings, and laps easy to count.
  • A two-hour morning. The 2024 walk ran from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.1 A short morning is easier to staff and easier to fill.
  • A fee that covered the day, separate from the fundraising. Registration was $25, or $20 early, and included "a T-shirt, snacks, and games."1 Fundraising came on top of that, so the registration paid for the walker's own day and pledges were extra.
  • A page for every walker or team. After registering, each walker or team got a link to set up a fundraising page with a name, photo, goal and message.1
  • Sponsors as a second stream. The $52,000 came from "community sponsors and teams of walkers."2

For a group starting from zero, that fee structure is the part to copy. Price registration to cover the shirt, snacks and games, so the event can't lose money on any one walker; then everything raised through pages and sponsors goes to the cause. Before you set the fee, put your shirt and supply quotes into the budget calculator. Our planning guide covers the rest of a first-year timeline.

Year two: same track, same week, a new school

The walk returned on June 14, 2025, at the same track, from 8:45 to 11:00 a.m., again with a $25 registration and a t-shirt, supporting "Capuchin Family Ministries' summer service experiences in the Hudson Valley and Appalachia."3 The province's leadership later wrote that "a number of the students from Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers, N.Y." took part, "to help raise funds for Capuchin Family Ministries' summer outreach programs."4 The ministry hasn't published a 2025 total.

Keeping the venue and the week fixed lets families put the walk on next year's calendar before this year's ends. Bringing in a second school is how a faith-based walk grows past its first circle: each school that joins brings its own families and its own sponsors. A ministry that funds teen service trips has another recruiting pool close at hand, the teens who go on them, and their families. For more on organizing through a congregation, see the church walk-a-thon guide.

Sources

  1. Capuchin Friars, Province of St. Mary, Heart & Sole Capuchin Walk-A-Thon (2024) (accessed October 19, 2026).
  2. Capuchin Friars, Province of St. Mary, Capuchin Family Ministries' Summer Events Shine Brightly (accessed October 19, 2026).
  3. Capuchin Friars, Province of St. Mary, Capuchin Heart & Sole Walk-a-Thon (2025) (accessed October 19, 2026).
  4. Capuchin Friars, Province of St. Mary, From the Provincial Minister (2025; accessed October 19, 2026).