The 12th Thomasville MLK Walk and Festival has started phase 1 of the event, the online walk competition. The event lasts until January 9, 2022. Participants ages 8 and up can log steps in weekly and qualify for prizes and raffles. Participants are able to enter locally, statewide and internationally.  There is no fee to participate in this event. Participants are encouraged to donate to their local soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

The live town hall will be January 6, 2022, from 7-8:30 p.m. on YouTube and Facebook Live and televised later on CNS Next. 

The in-person MLK Walk and Festival is slated for January 15, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. with the walk at 12 noon. The grand marshal will be Cathy Carmichael Jones, last years’s Humanitarian Award Winner. This year’s event is in memory of Felix Johnson, an 11-year committee member, who lost his life this year due to a battle with COVID-19.

The MLK Walk and Festival started over 11 years ago as a way to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday through promoting health, diversity, education, humanitarianism, and decreasing health disparities and childhood obesity. The event went online last year as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Because of the large response to online platforms; This year the committee decided to do both methods. Honorary chair is Nancy Tillinghast. Youth chairs are Yameriah Beaty and Kirsten Williams.

There will be grocery “manna” giveaway, children’s/youth activities, vendors, Grandma Storybook Corner, demonstrations, and more. Entertainers and surprise guests will be at the live, in-person event. More details of the entertainment lineup will follow.

A MLK Walk and Festival Dr. I.L. Mullins high school senior scholarship and Ira Flowers college student scholarship is available. To be considered for the scholarship, participants are asked to write a 300-word essay on “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘what are you doing for others?’” and upload it to mlkhumanitarianwalk.org by December 17, 2021.

Nominations are being accepted for a community humanitarian award winner, who is recognized and presides over the festivities. 

This event is a partnership between the City of Thomasville, CNSNext, Habitat for Humanity, Hands on Thomas County, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Lambda Xi Omega Chapter and Restoration Tabernacle Ministries, many community sponsors and vendors. In-person participants under 10 need to walk with an adult present. 

For more information call Remell Butler at (229) 485-9337. For more information go to mlkhumanitarianwalk.org