WE DID IT!

With the support from our Waymakers, we were able to raise over $39,285.00 for unaccompanied and separated immigrant children.

This shows what we can do when we come together. Step by step, we can build a better, more inclusive world for immigrant children, youth, families and their communities.

We are incredibly grateful to all the 318 participants that formed 28 teams, as well as our sponsors, staff, and volunteers who came out during the month of September to walk with Joaquin, Kolya, and Yesenia on their journeys to the United States.

Collectively, we walked 13,358 miles across 28 states and 3 countries. Each step of every mile logged made an incredible difference in uplifting their stories and in honoring Elizabeth Frankel's legacy.

The journey doesn't end in September. You can be a waymaker throughout the year by becoming a Champion for Children by making a sustaining gift.

WHY WE’RE CALLING IT THE ELIZABETH FRANKEL WAYMAKERS RACE

Throughout the month of September, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights will host its 4th annual Waymaker’s race to honor Elizabeth Frankel and to celebrate how each of us has the capacity to Be a Waymaker and walk with a child and their family, like Liz.  

A tireless advocate, waymaker, and friend, Elizabeth Frankel joined the Young Center in late 2009 as the third full-time employee of the Young Center.  Liz led the charge in opening the Young Center’s Harlingen office to better serve immigrant children detained along the U.S. – Mexico border.  

Liz served as a guiding light to each child and parent as they made their way through an adversarial and punitive immigration and justice system. With each story, Liz walked firmly with expert practitioners, stakeholders, and Young Center staff and volunteers to forge a better path for all who come to this country seeking a new life.  

In 2021, we lost Liz to cancer, but her spirit as a waymaker lives on in each of us.  

How you can #BeAWaymaker

However you choose to do it, each mile walked will help raise $35,000.00 and every dollar will go towards sustaining the programs that Liz started to ensure that no child ever walks through our immigration system alone again.

Walk with a Child on their Journey to the United States

In solidarity with the children Elizabeth worked with, our goal in 2024 is to collectively walk, run, or roll the same number of miles a child travels in search of safety to the United States.

As we kick off our race, we invite you to lace up your sneakers or tune up your bikes and join Joaquin on his journey in search of safety.

Joaquin is a young boy fleeing gang violence in Honduras. After being viciously attacked in his hometown by members of a local gang, Joaquin decided to make the journey to New York City to reunite with his mother and younger siblings.

But before he can be with his family,  he will first need to travel 1,500 miles through the jungle and the desert to get to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Join Joaquin as a team or an individual and contribute to the total number of miles he needs to travel and help get him to his family. 

Honor your Waymaker: Walk in honor of someone who helped you

Everybody has a waymaker in their lives. These are the people who have taken us aside and have shown us the way forward in our new home, school, country, or chosen industry, paving the way for our future successes.

In that spirit, we celebrate the contributions of all Waymakers and want this race to honor their work. If you would like to walk on behalf of a mentor who helped make your way, let us know who you’ll be racing for and how many miles.

We also ask that you download the graphic bib “I AM RACING FOR MY WAYMAKER  [INCLUDE NAME]” found in our toolkit and write in your Waymaker’s name.

Post it on your social media and tag us.  Track your miles and let us know how much you’ve walked.

SPONSORS

PLATINUM

SILVER

Ethel Klein and Edward P. Krugman

BRONZE

Bristol Myers Squibb • Northern Trust

WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM

HOW YOU CAN BE A SPONSOR

Join us as a sponsor of the 4th annual Elizabeth Frankel Waymakers Race this summer to advocate for immigrant children’s rights. All sponsors gain national exposure to the Young Center community, which comes from all 50 states, with concentrated support in our 9 regions of operation: New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago, Michigan, Washington DC, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, and on the border in Harlingen, TX.

WHY SPONSOR?

Partner with the Young Center to achieve your social responsibility goals! Companies that support the Young Center align their brand with an immigrant-led social justice organization rooted in values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice – building trust and loyalty with your existing and new customers that can drive business to new heights. In supporting the Young Center’s mission to help unaccompanied immigrant children find safety and advocate for just immigration policies, you are visibly investing in making our country a welcoming and safe place for all.