-David Crowder, WRGA News-
This weekend, area residents will lace up their walking shoes to raise awareness about mental illness and to raise funds for the Rome chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
NAMI Walks Rome is this Saturday, starting at Heritage Park behind the levee.
“Saturday is our big day,” said Bonnie Moore with NAMI Rome. “From 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. down at Heritage Park, they can just come that morning. They don’t have to register until they get there. So, we would just love to see a big crowd come down on Saturday morning. Get there about 10 o’clock. The walk actually starts around 11:15 or 11:30, but we will have a ceremony beforehand. The Rome ROTC will be presenting the colors. We will have some games for the kids. We have some Berry cheerleaders.”
The route will take the walkers from the park through Downtown Rome.
“We will go across the footbridge to Broad Street,” said Jim Moore with NAMI Rome. “Then we will go four or five blocks up Broad Street, turn around and come back. They will be stopping traffic. So, look for us at around 11:30 up and down Broad Street.”
The goal is to have 350 participants.
“That’s just based on the model, I guess you might call it,” Mr. Moore added. “In reality, we’ve had over 200, typically, and I think we’ve had close to 200 that have registered so far. Of course, the funds, we had a goal of $75,000. This year, we are a little short, but we’re still going to have it, come rain or shine.”
For more information, you can visit namiwalks.org/rome.
