Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) kicked off their annual Walk-A-Mile event with shoe decorating and ice-cream, on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.
Walk-A-Mile, which takes place on April 19 this year, is “the international men’s, and women’s, walk to stop rape, sexual assault, and gender violence,” as explained by Cara Colotti, member of the Walk-A-Mile committee and MVP. She added, “This event raises awareness.”
Fellow student and participant Cara Logerfo similarly said, “It’s about raising awareness for rape and sexual assault of all people. It is all about awareness and support.”
The event was held in the Mabel Brown Room where almost every table was full of students raising awareness while simultaneously decorating shoes which they would wear for the event later in the semester.
Allison Lamell / Multimedia Director:
Wedges, sneakers, heels and various other shoes are decorated with glitter, marker and stickers for Walk-A-Mile event.
Students explained why they choose to participate in Walk-A-Mile. “This is important to me for many different reasons, but mainly because it’s a subject that I’m passionate about, and I think it’s great that on the day of Walk-a-Mile, you get to see how many other people are passionate about it as well,” Colotti explained.
Jake Sharkey, member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, also known as TKE, said he and his brothers, “decorated our shoe TKE style and have cool designs on the shoe that we thought of to show that TKE supports Walk-A-Mile.”
Sharkey also said, “I got involved my freshman year with TKE. So I have done this every year, and I think it is a really great experience. It is a big eye-opener for anyone who is a first-timer or really just doesn’t know much about sexual violence.”
“Some of the statistics are crazy. I am just glad to be involved, help out, and get the word out there,” he continued.
Logerfo emphasized why violence prevention is important. “Because the culture we live in, you know, women are taught how to not get raped rather than teaching people not to rape. Also, we live in a culture that often blames the victim, so it is good to show support that no one should go through that,” Logerfo said.
With all of the support for Walk-A-Mile, students also speak to the importance of this new kickoff event that MVP organized.
“I think it is good to get more people interested in it because, I mean, there is free food and shoe decorating. Who doesn’t want to do that? I think the idea is great, too, to attract attention to the Walk-A-Mile event itself,” Logerfo said.
“It raises the number of people participating and the amount of people that are aware of the event. It also is a sneak preview of the amazing shoes,” Colotti said.
Allison Lamell / Multimedia Director:
Students decorate shoes in the Mabel Brown Room to raise awareness about violence in preparation for the annual Walk-A-Mile event that will be held April 19.
Sharkey added, “I think it can add a little fun—not that the event isn’t fun, because it is—but this might help people get together with their friends and decorate shows. I think it is another way to add to the event—to get more people to come out and raise awareness. So, I think it is smart, it should be fun.”
Between ice-cream, decorating and judging the shoes that were created, MVP Club Advisor Forrest Seymour expressed he was please with the success of the event and anticipated more turnout in the spring.
Seymour said, “We had over forty sign-ups, fourteen entries in our shoe contest, lots of fun and maybe one-hundred people there.”
Colotti added that every participant and every contribution counts. “I participate in Walk-A-Mile because I think every little bit counts and it shows a lot of support to ‘put yourself in her shoes.’”
Nicole Carrobis can be contacted at ncarrobis@ksc.keene.edu