For the second year Rachel’s Hope, a pregnancy center in Austin, will be holding its Walk for Life on Saturday, Sept. 14, at East Side Lake.

It’s the follow up to last year’s walk, which raised $7,000 for Rachel’s Hope.

“Last year was our 20th anniversary and we did it to commemorate,” said Rachel’s Hope Director Linda LaVallie. “Let’s continue doing that and we hope to see it grow.”

Things like the walk are essentially a fundraiser for an organization that relies largely on private donations

About 90 percent of the operating expense of Rachel’s Hope is through private donations with the rest taken care of by grands.

But it’s also an opportunity to let the public know what the organization does to help both expecting mothers and new mothers.

“A lot of people don’t know what we do,” LaVallie said. “It seems like we’ve been here for 21 years and I don’t think people know what we do.”

Among the many things offered includes education and peer counseling for mothers or soon-to-be mothers.

“The event has raised awareness,” she said. “I think it’s a good place for the people who are trying to support families in need and those families in need.”

The other nice thing LaVallie said is that it’s a common ground for many of the churches in Austin who only want to help families in some way.

“Everybody is coming together,” she said. “It’s a common goal to help these families.”

The walk will be from 10 a.m. to noon and will involve walking around East Side Lake from the main parking lot to a gravel lot on the north side and back.

People can raise money for the walk by raising pledges and sponsors or they can do it on their own and bring what they have raised on the day of the walk.

There will also be activities and games for kids, which is new from last year and hot dogs and chips will be available. Also new this year there will be a door prize drawing for anybody who makes a donation.

More more information call 507-437-7595.