Hundreds of people took to the streets of Milford Saturday morning for a two-mile walk with a goal much bigger than crossing the finish line.
The Storehouse Project hosted its Walk to the Future fundraiser bringing together volunteers, supporters and people who have benefited from the nonprofit’s services to celebrate its past and help build its future.
“It seems as though it’s just a small walk, but it’s a quantum leap forward,” said Pastor Alfred Watts, executive director of The Storehouse Project. He says the organization started in a 10-by-10-foot room in 2002 and has since grown into a nonprofit providing food assistance, clothing, community meals, volunteer opportunities and other resources to people in need.
Now, more than two decades later, The Storehouse Project is preparing for another big step.
Participants gathered at the organization’s new facility on Wheelers Farms Road before taking a shuttle to its original location at 192 Meadow St.
From there they walked two miles back to the new building, symbolizing the organization’s journey from its humble beginnings to its next chapter.
For Watts, the walk represented more than just a change of address.
“It’s an opportunity to walk into a future, not only into the future of The Storehouse Project, but to help individuals walk into their God-ordained future, as well,” Watts said. “The people that you see around here right now, they’ve been helped, and because they’ve freely received? They want to freely give.”
The Storehouse Project set a fundraising goal of $100,000 for Saturday’s event, with Watts saying the organization was making progress toward that target.
NBC Connecticut also played a part in supporting the nonprofit’s next chapter. The Storehouse Project received a $40,000 Local Impact Grant from NBCUniversal’s local news division, which owns NBC Connecticut. The organization says will go toward its future work as it moves into the new facility.
For the people who have supported The Storehouse Project over the years, Saturday’s walk was both a look back at how far the organization has come and a step toward what comes next.
