St. Cloud area community and faith leaders will hold a Unity Walk starting at 10 a.m. Oct. 8 at the Great River Regional Library in St. Cloud. It will proceed along St. Germain Street to 8th Street and then to the Stearns County Courthouse.
The event will begin with a prayer for the community in Spanish, Somali and English, according to organizers, and close at the courthouse with a prayer followed by the following statement: “Central Minnesota is a strong, resilient community. We’ve walked together to support one another and continue building a common future.”
Among groups helping to organize the walk are the Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders; Bishop Donald Kettler is a member.
Some 600 T-shirts will be provided free to participants that will say “United” in Spanish, English and Somali. The shirts will feature blue with gray lettering — the city colors of St. Cloud — and all walkers are encouraged to wear blue shirts.
The walk comes three weeks after 10 people were injured when a knife-wielding man, Dahir Adan of St. Cloud, attacked shoppers inside Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud. The Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders group was among those calling for peace and unity among all of St. Cloud’s cultural and religious communities following the attack.