On April 9th, UWGB student Amy Niemuth will lead 150 people down the arboretum trail on campus. It will be the culmination of months of planning for the 10th annual Steps to Make a Difference walk.
She says, "Just making an impact on someone else's life, realizing that not everyone has the same opportunities, and being able to give those people opportunities is a nice thing to do."
Niemuth is Vice President of the Phoenix Philanthropy Club. They interviewed numerous non-profits and narrowed it down to three organizations that will share the $6,000 the walk usually brings in.
"What I like about these, they're carefully chosen. They're strong organizations, and they're representing a whole variety of things," said Lora Warner, the Philanthropy Club's Faculty Advisor.
One of the beneficiaries is Green Bay's Freedom House which is a homeless shelter for families with children.
"With the waiting list of like 100 people long, they're needed in the community, and obviously they need more help, not just donations, but awareness of what they're doing," explained Niemuth.
The Einstein Project will also receive funds from the walk which will allow them to put more hands-on, science education kits in local classrooms.
"With all the budget cuts and everything that's happening in schools, not all the schools can get the materials to have them do experiments."
The third non-profit benefiting from the walk is New Leaf Foods which runs a market in Green Bay that offers locally grown, organic products.
"Obviously eating healthy is a big part of it and not just giving people food to eat, but mainly teaching them how to sustain themselves with it."
Warner says the walk not only makes a difference in our community, but also in the lives of the students who put it all together.
"The students are gaining a lot of leadership skills, a lot of experience. I mean these students know the ins and outs of setting up an event, and how to market it, and how to organize the logistics."
Niemuth adds, "It's opened my eyes up that I want to go into this field. I want to help people, and it's just been preparing me I guess for what I want to do later on after college."
Niemuth is getting her certificate in non-profit management, and through this walk, she's already helping others before earning her degree.
The Steps to Make a Difference Walk is set for Saturday, April 9th on the UWGB campus. Registration at the Mauthe Center begins at 9:30am. Click here for more information.
