Walk for Development

More than five hundred Knoxvillians, UT students, and UT faculty and staff participated in the Walk for Development on May 8, 1971. Walking simultaneously with four million marchers in 350 cities around the world, the Knoxville marchers walked 21 miles to earn $15,400 to fight poverty in Knoxville and in the drought-ridden African country of Upper Volta. Ambassador Paul Rowanba, Upper Volta representative to the United Nations, was present for the beginning of the walk.  Of the amount collected, 42.5 percent of the money raised in Knoxville went to the Knoxville Council on Child Care; 42.5 percent of the funds went to a well-digging project in Upper Volta; and the remaining 15 percent went to the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation, which had sponsored all the walks. The 350 walks across the United States collectively raised $1,250,000 for a variety of local and international causes as well as the Freedom from Hunger Foundation. A second walk was held on May 13, 1972, with 42.5 percent of the funds raised going to two local programs: the Wesley House Tutorial Program and the Lonsdale Welfare Mothers’ Center.