Eastbayri.com

BRISTOL — The annual Faith Walk for Charity is testament to the fact that individuals from all religions can raise awareness and money in support of a common goal.

This year that common goal is Camp Surefire, the only camp in Rhode Island that’s specifically for children and teens with diabetes.

Chris Fay and a couple of other Bristolians founded the nonprofit Faith Walk for Charity six years ago.

“Really it was a couple of fellow parishioners at our church, St. Michael’s. We were on the outreach committee,” said Mr. Fay. “The impetus was we were thinking about how can we go beyond bake sales and what have you. That, coupled with perhaps religious strife dating back to 9/11 for me personally, that it’s not a bad idea to focus on the things we have in common, rather than our differences — which are far fewer.”

The group is made up of members representing the Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Episcopal, Baptist, Congregational and Friends faiths. “It’s a group of both clergy and lay people, including the bishop of the Episcopal Church, head of Muslim Da’wah Center in Rhode Island and other leaders from groups and lay people spanning now seven different religions,” he said. Preceding the walk is a moment of reflection in which all these different clergies say something — and that is pretty cool.”

Each year the organization selects one beneficiary, with all proceeds from the walk going to that group. Past beneficiaries have included Crossroads Rhode Island, the R.I. Community Food Bank, the R.I. Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Amos House and the Rhode Island Free Clinic.

“We meet once for about an hour and we say, ‘Who’s it going to be?’ It has to be unanimous and it has to be secular; it couldn’t be, say, the Salvation Army or a church,” said Mr. Fay. “We’ve raised a good $20,000-plus each year.”

Once again, he said, Alan Shawn Feinstein has pledged to match the first $10,000 raised with an additional $10,000.

This year, he thinks the walk will be bigger than ever. “All these different Sundays schools and religious education classes and youth groups have been telling us through pre-registration that they’re embracing this,” he said.

There’s no charge to participate in the walk, but donations are encouraged. Walkers may participate as individuals or as part of a team representing a specific faith community, organization or company.

You can download registration forms from the website at www.faithwalkforcharity.org, or fill one out the day of the event. The walk is only a mile long, so it’s “kid-friendly,” he said.

Faith Walk for Charity’s Annual Walk

WHERE: Colt State Park, off Route 114, Bristol

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m.

MORE INFO: www.faithwalkforcharity.org