Chocolate Lovers' Fundraiser I

'A successful, adaptable fundraiser from Pennsylvania...

Lititz Chocolate Walk Highlights

• $25 to participate
• Receive button, punch card & map
• Downtown
• Walk from store to store
• Ticket sales now capped at 2,000 to shorten lines
• "Chocolate Stroll," a smaller version

Event sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Lititz Area, Pennsylvania

Kiwanis Magazine, December 2013, 36-39

Kiwanis Magazine, December 2013

YOU HAVE TO ADMIT:

If you want to attract patrons to a fundraiser, chocolate is a strong draw. Apologies to other Kiwanis clubs, but chocolate might just trump pancakes. 

That's perhaps why the Kiwanis Club of Lititz Area, Pennsylvania, has run its Lititz Chocolate Walk every October for 12 years now. Dubbed the "Chocolate for Charity" event, the Lititz Chocolate Walk showcases some of the regions's most talented chefs, chocolatiers and candymakers, who whip up cocoa confections to raise money for kids' needs.

Walkers pay US$25, don an official Chocolate Walk button and carry a punch card. They follow maps through historic downtown Lititz, scoring chocolate treats at each of about 30 retail locations. Since 2001, the event has attracted more than 15,000 stalwart champions for chocolate and raised about US$350,000. The event is so popular now (drawing visitors from as far away as Minnesota, California and even Alaska), the club caps ticket sales at 2,000 to keep the lines short.

"We will distribute more than US$50,000 from the 2013 walk," says Lititz Area Kiwanian and Chocolate Walk Chairman Mark Freeman. "We hold a special evening every year where we invite our chocolate vendors to come and see what their efforts benefit."

Some patrons "call it trick or treat for grown-ups." Others just enjoy the chance to sample chocolate goodies and enjoy the ambiance of Lititz, a 257-year-old town that's packed with heritage--and apparently chocolate.

"It's a community event that brings people to town and gets them into our many eclectic shops," Freeman says. "Our host retailers benefit tremendously. Many tell us they have one of their best days of the year on Chocolate Walk day. Some say it's the unofficial kickoff for the holiday season in Lititz.     

The club shares its success, helping other communities organize similar events. A nearby retirement center now runs a "chocolate stroll" each winter, but the club's event reigns supreme in the region.                          



During our third walk in 2014, we had a torrential downpour, and it did not slow things down," Freeman says."No one complained. They were all focused on the chocolate. That was the year we knew we had something special.

During our third walk in 2014, we had a torrential downpour, and it did not slow things down," Freeman says."No one complained. They were all focused on the chocolate. That was the year we knew we had something special.


The Kiwanis family can be found everywhere along Chocolate Walk, including chocolate craftsmen (right) and checking tickets (top right). The most important job--tasting samples--is managed by the 2,000 chocolate-stalking patrons...

Next post - Norman Firehouse's Chocolate Festival!