Residents wanting to show their support for the unborn and for pregnant women who choose to have their child instead of an abortion will have that opportunity April 22 with the Center for Pregnancy Choices’ Walk for Life.

“The Walk for Life is an opportunity for pro-life members of our community to remind themselves and everybody that not everybody devalues life and thinks that our lives are exactly the way they ought to be,” said CPC director Priscilla Black.

“It’s an opportunity to say, ‘I support life,’ and I’ll support you if you choose life. It’s also an opportunity for people to support the center. We’re completely donor-funded and community funded, so that means that by holding a fundraiser like the Walk for Life, we’re able to offer all our program and services in the community for free.”

Black said women who come to the center and want to terminate their pregnancy often want to do it because they don’t feel they’re supported enough to carry their child to term.

“So this is an opportunity for us to make sure these women in our community know you are supported and we will support you, and the COPC is your first step to getting that support,” she said.

The walk, she added, lets the public show it supports the center so the center is able to support a woman who decides to carry the child to term, regardless if she keeps the child or gives it up for adoption.

She said the center sees about 400 unique, or new clients a year. Those clients, she said, make between 1,500 to 2,000 visits during the year to receive assistance from the center.

Registration for the walk begins at 8:30 a.m. April 22, with the walk beginning at 9 a.m. at the CPC offices at 1401 Adams Street. Registration is $20. If an individual has done fundraising for CPC, the registration fee is waived. If anyone who has a baby bottle distributed through the center’s Baby Bottle Boomerang program brings it to the walk with a visible $20 bill in it, their registration will be waived.
Black said the walk covers a 1-mile circuit from the center through downtown and ending back at the center.

“Right before the walk starts, we give a little speech on why we’re here and we remind ourselves of the impact the center has and how many women have chose life because of that and we remind ourselves of the work we still have to do.”

She said there will be several activities at the center after the walk with attractions for children and a ceremony thanking the walk’s sponsors and the top fundraisers for the center.
Black said recent walks have been attended by less than 100 participants, and the center is encouraging more participation in this year’s walk.

“We’re trying to get more participation than we ever have before because we know so many residents are pro-life; we hear from them, we see them, they help use, they volunteer here, they support us financially. They support us in their churches, however, we rarely see them at the walk for life.

“If every pro-life person walked this year, what kind of impact would that have on our community as a whole? What kind of impact would that make on our lawmakers, what kind of impact would that have on a woman who’s trying to decide if she can support this child, when she sees hundreds of thousands of people will support me if I carry to term.”