The late Bay Area summer is in full swing, and autumn is just around the corner! Over at GRIP, excitement is building for our 37th annual Harmony Walk. The link to our registration page is live now – please spread the word to your family, friends, coworkers, and networks to sign up for a day of outdoor fun that will benefit an honorable cause.
While this event is free to attend – and we encourage all community members and neighbors to come check us out – we recommend registering as an event attendee to get the full Harmony Walk experience. As a registered event attendee, you’ll receive this year’s stylishly designed Harmony Walk t-shirt, five raffle tickets, and the chance to participate in our short “fun run” (or walk) to the GRIP shelter and back (about a 1-mile round trip). There, walkers and runners will have the opportunity, like last year, to step inside and learn more about the day-to-day, on-the-ground work that GRIP staff do to keep community members housed and fed. Of course, as a registered attendee, you’ll also make a donation to support GRIP’s services for our shelter families. Additionally, the first 100 registered attendees of our event will be treated to free ice cream from the beloved neighborhood artisan creamery Humphry Slocombe. In honor of the Harmony Walk’s 37th anniversary, a ticket for full event registration is available for $37.
KTVU-2’s Robert Gonzales will be our MC and host this year, with special speakers including San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan who has lived as a homeless person as part of his extensive coverage of the issue in the Bay Area.
Live musical performances from Hope Lutheran Church and Christ Lutheran Church will entertain the crowd, as well as a lineup of speakers who will share more about how to get involved in housing justice work here in Richmond, and the greater East Bay. Attendees will also get the chance to visit tables from local organizations and advocacy groups doing important work in our communities. We encourage families with young children to attend – we’ll be holding a craft table, a bounce house, a giant playable chess set, and other fun activities for little ones! A food truck from Curbside Kitchen will also be in attendance, selling delicious burgers, sandwiches, and other goodies. Finally, by purchasing raffle tickets, attendees will have the chance to win any number of our special raffle prizes, donated generously by local businesses who support GRIP’s work – this includes gift certificates to prime eateries like Los Moles, La Strada, and more; free classes at OrangeTheory Fitness; a lunch at the chic San Francisco social club The Battery; and more!
We are enormously grateful to this year’s event sponsors: JPMorgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, Sims Metal Management, East Bay MUD, M.A. Hayes Insurance, AC Transit, Curbside Kitchen, The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Bay Ferry, and SOS Toilets.
