Alden Kindred of America to Honor Mikey Walker

Mikey Walker, founder of the Kerry Jon Walker Fund and Head of School at Hingham’s Old Colony Montessori School, resident of Hull, will be honored at the Alden Kindred of America’s Speak for Thyself Awards on Thursday, May 28, 6 pm, at Clifford Hall, Duxbury Bay Maritime School, 457 Washington Street, Duxbury.

The Speak for Thyself Awards honor women who, in the spirit of Pilgrim Priscilla Mullins Alden, have prompted extraordinary outcomes by speaking up on behalf of themselves or others. The nominees are selected for outstanding civic contributions to their communities and have been instrumental in changing the lives they touch for the better. Each recipient exemplifies the role of women in America as pilgrims, pioneers, advocates, community organizers, politicians and business leaders, as well as mothers, sisters, wives and friends; women whose daily lives are a reflection the award.

Mikey Walker has dedicated her career to educating children, celebrating two decades as Head of School at Hingham’s Old Colony Montessori School, following teaching positions at a state run child care facility and both urban and suburban schools.

During a trip to Guinea, West Africa in 2005, one of the world’s poorest countries, Walker experienced a deeper understanding of the problems plaguing third-world countries. Shaken by widespread poverty, yet deeply touched by the generosity freely given by those who had so little, Walker transformed her personal journey into a greater mission to help. On several return trips, Walker assisted children in attending school, and transported donations of clothes, educational materials and medical supplies to those in need.

From this life changing experience, Walker was inspired to found the Kerry Jon Walker Fund (KJWF) in 2010, in memory of her late son. She continues to serve as the non-profit organization’s president, dedicated to helping humanity and enhancing the education of youth in America and abroad, promoting initiatives designed to improve the quality of life for those who suffer from poverty and its consequences. To date, the Fund has collected and shipped 3,000 pounds of children’s books, uniforms and educational materials to children in Guinea’s village schools. By bringing literacy and educational necessities to children across the world, KJWF provides them with the hope to aspire to a better future for themselves and their communities. This effort keeps the spirit of Walker’s late son’s goodness alive, by giving to the lives of others, and helping other young people achieve their dreams.

More recently, KJWF has funded mission trips for financially-challenged teen students from Boston’s Snowden International High School, providing life-changing opportunities of global service in Africa, inspiring youth leadership. A third mission trip is in the works this summer to serve the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda, home and school to 500 homeless and victimized teens, young victims of the country’s genocide. The Boston-based students serve and bond with their homeless peers abroad, African teens who once survived daily conditions that lacked clean water, electricity and reliable food sources.

Walker is one of four 2015 award honorees, including Emmy Award winning WHDH/TV Anchor/Reporter Sarah French, an advocate for domestic violence victims, active in the Make a Wish and Susan G. Komen Foundations; Anita Haffey of Crossroads for Kids, active in the Duxbury Beach Preservation Society and Friends of Gurnet and Bug Lights; and Jeanette MacKenzie, active in Duxbury’s Community Garden Club and the Alden House Landscaping Project.

Tickets for the Speak for Thyself Awards are $75, serving as a tax deductible charitable contribution, may be purchased online at www.alden.org, at the Alden House Historic Site at 105 Alden Street, Duxbury, or by contacting Kristen Larson, Manager of Fund Development and Membership, at (781) 934-9092 or by email at klarson@alden.org. Funds raised from the event assist the Alden Kindred of America’s mission to preserve the spirit, tradition and ancestral home of the Alden family through education, exhibition and outreach. For more information about the Speak for Thyself Awards, please visit www.alden.org. For more information about the Kerry Jon Walker Fund, or to make a donation, visit www.thekerryfund.org.