Walk for life raises record amount

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[May 01, 2015]  LINCOLN - The Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center hosted its annual Walk for Life on Saturday, April 25th. The event was held at the Lincoln Christian Church from 9 a.m. to noon. It was a day filled with fellowship, games, prizes and food all in support and celebration of LIFE!

The Walk, which has raised about $15,000 each year, set a new record this year by raising a total of $17,871. The Pregnancy Resource Center, which benefits from the funds raised by the walk, has been in Lincoln since 1988. Center director Linda Nelson says they serve approximately 150 clients a year, providing services such as pregnancy testing, ultrasound scanning, options counseling, H.O.P.E. Mentoring Program, parent education, STI/STD Information, adoption support, and Post-Abortion Healing.

Tony Shuff opened the event with prayer and a welcome to participants, noting that the Walk assists in saving lives, helping families, and blessing our community. Shuff also expressed thanks for the support of the community.

Participants cited various reasons for their participation and support of the ministry of the pregnancy resource center:

Kim King did an internship at the center several years ago and now volunteers. She went to Washington D.C. for the March for Life event years ago and now participates in various community events for the center.

For Darlene Crider, having a child born on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, points out the necessity of celebrating life.

Carlene Carter, who, with her family, has been participating for nearly 20 years, asserts that having a child with a disability makes one appreciate the sanctity of life. Carter also appreciates the ministry the center provides by helping people with basic needs such as formula and diapers.

Mary Stone has participated in the walk for several years and likes knowing that the center helps save lives and that the money raised will help many clients.

Walk participant Sabrina Parr, who is a mother of five boys, said she has benefitted from the services offered by the Pregnancy Resource Center and “appreciates all their helpfulness with baby clothes, wipes, and diapers.” She also states, “I get some helpful parenting tips through watching videos [and] the workers provide good advice.”

Participant Pat Williamson is one of the volunteers at the center and says, “it is a worthy cause—sometimes we just encourage mothers in their daily parenting.

Wayne and Pat Knoles have participated for the past couple of years. They are firmly pro-life and appreciate places like PRC. They said that hopefully the walk brings more awareness of available resources. Recently, they were able to tell a young girl about the help available through the center. The Knoles’ said that the new mother was not aware of the resources during her pregnancy, and its services were what she needed during that time.

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Once participants completed the walk, there was worship and singing followed by a message from Greg Taylor, pastor of First Christian Church of Clinton, Illinois. Taylor shared a story of Bob and Pam, who were Christian missionaries to the Philippines. When Pam was pregnant with their first child, she was told that because she might not survive the pregnancy, abortion was the only option. Against the advice of her physician, she went ahead with the pregnancy and months later, a healthy baby boy was born. He went on to become the famous athlete we know as Tim Tebow. Taylor pondered--how many other Tim Tebows have been aborted by those who saw abortion as their only option?

Taylor declared that we are called to be unashamedly pro-life and said there is no "easy button" for an unplanned pregnancy, though some mistakenly see abortion as an easy solution. Taylor also talked about how he was born in 1969 to a young unwed mother who chose to give him up for adoption. Noting that he was conceived before abortion was legalized, he wondered if [the decision] would have been different if he had been conceived just four and a half years later. He was raised by a Christian family and has been involved in the ministry for years. Taylor closed by encouraging everyone to take a stand for life.

After the message, Nelson handed out awards to some notable participants. The top donor award went to Ben Vogel, who has participated in the walk for many years and raised over $11,000 this year. The Carol Vogel award went to Deborah Harvey for her dedication to the work of the center. A final award went to Karen Ritchert for getting over 90 sponsors and many donations for the silent auction.



Every bit of support is appreciated, for it is through these sponsors, individual and church financial support, and fundraising events like the Walk for Life that the Pregnancy Resource Center is able to provide the services they do.

[Angela Reiners]

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