July 31 & August 1, 2010
It's been a long 1700 miles, beginning
in Nashville, Tennessee with one of the coldest winters on record, and
continuing through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico with hailstorms,
tornadoes, severe rain and flooding and then triple digit temperatures all
along the way. But Jimmy Wayne is finally nearing his end goal-- Phoenix,
Arizona.
The organizer of Meet Me Halfway will
arrive in the Phoenix area the weekend of July 31st, with a free concert
set for Mesa, AZ on July 31st and the official arrival into Phoenix the morning
of August 1.
July 31: Evening concert at Toby
Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill. Jimmy Wayne and his band will perform a free
concert at the venue, beginning at 7:30 pm.
August 1: Supporters are invited to
walk the last mile of MMH with Jimmy. The public is invited to gather Sunday
morning, and walk the last mile with Jimmy to HomeBase Youth Services. Once at
HomeBase, the official program will begin.
What is Meet Me Halfway (MMH)? MMH is the brainchild of recording artist Jimmy Wayne. The
initiative began as a 1700 mile walk from Nashville TN to Phoenix AZ, designed
to raise awareness of children who age out of the foster care system, and
without any sort of support, can end up homeless. All along his 1700 mile path,
Wayne has talked to individuals, media, and politicians to make them aware
of this situation and discuss possible solutions. He's traveled to Sacramento,
CA to push for support of AB 12, a bill that would extend foster care from the
age of 18 to 21 for children in the California Foster Care system. He's
also traveled to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to advocate for national foster
care reform. In May he was named National Celebrity Spokesperson of Foster Club
of America, the only organization representing youth in foster care. MMH
is a national campaign to raise awareness of teen homelessness and the need for
foster care reform.