Although walking a mile can be great for your health, one local group is hoping to make that stroll help a lot of other people as well.

T.R.I.B.E. (Trusting and Reaching out to Individuals for a Better Environment) will be mounting their first annual Walk-A-Thon on Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. The walk, said event coordinator Shelly Thacker, is designed to help the little ones in the area.

“It’s basically just going to bring awareness to child abuse in this area,” Thacker said. “Also, all of the money we raise Ohio Family and Children First Council.”

The Ohio University Southern human services technology division created the T.R.I.B.E. around a year ago, but this is the first major event that they have hosted.

The OFCFC is an organization dedicated to improving the wellbeing of young people in the state. Once the council has the $10 donation that T.R.I.B.E. is asking — children under 12 get in for free — Thacker said it could be put to any number of different uses.

“It might be busted up into mini-grants and given to local agencies that help children or it might be used to build a playground for the children at the new Ironton domestic violence shelter,” Thacker said.

Once participants have paid their fee, they will not only walk a mile at the track at Ironton High School, but also be able to collect information from local charity groups about how they can get involved in their community, something that T.R.I.B.E. supports heavily.

Participants will also receive a free T-shirt and pin, as well as the chance to participate in a raffle to win prizes from local merchants.

Thacker said that they are also planning on helping children even more directly, albeit in a slightly less critical way, with face painting and other kid-friendly activities that organizers hope will draw in whole families.

Thacker said that she hoped by bringing light to the issue of child abuse and ways people can get involved, they can get some of the warm feelings she’s received from helping T.R.I.B.E.

“To see these people and to see that they actually need this money, if I can give them my time and my effort and that will raise money, then by all means I’ll do that everyday,” Thacker said.

“I think this is what the community needs, is people to get together and take action, and to give and not expect anything back.”