For the second year in a row, NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley announced it has a generous partner in supporting what is its biggest fundraiser of the year – NAMIWalks.
Malik and K Khaliq and family, of Milan, have returned to be the presenting sponsor of the 2024 NAMIWalks event planned for Saturday, Sept. 28, at the Bend XPO amphitheater and park on the East Moline riverfront.
NAMIWalks is the Quad Cities’ largest mental health advocacy and awareness event. It also is NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley’s biggest source of funds. NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley offers free, nationally developed education and support groups for those living with mental health conditions, their families and friends.
“We get tremendous support from the Quad-City business community, as well as individuals, who regularly sponsor NAMIWalks each year,” NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley Development Director Lori Leipold said in a news release. “But it’s rare for a family to support NAMIWalks at the level of Presenting Sponsor – especially for two years running.
Khaliqs honors late son
“We are very grateful to the Khaliq family for their generous support of our mission,” Ms. Leipold said. “Meeting our fundraising goal each year is vital to delivering programs to more people in need throughout our eight-county service area.”
The Khaliq family is sponsoring NAMIWalks in a major way for a number of reasons. They include their strong belief that families living with mental health conditions need to be supported with free, high-quality education and support group programs on the local level, delivered by people with lived mental health experience, the release said.
The family also supports NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley’s mission in honor and memory of their late son, Matthew.
“Matthew died on September 29, 2008, from accidental drowning,” K Khaliq said in the release. “He was just 21 years old, and had been diagnosed with several mental health conditions. I shortened my name from Karen to K when he died, because I felt a part of me had died with him. We were together on our own before I met and married my husband, Malik, in 2000. When Matthew died in 2008, my world stopped and the rest of the world kept going.”
She added “NAMI programs helped us and helped me through my grief. I had a new start with Malik and our young children, but I needed help to begin again. There is still such a stigma with mental illness and people are often isolated – NAMI helped me realize I wasn’t alone.”
Family behind effort
The entire Khaliq family gets behind their NAMIWalks sponsorship. Malik Khaliq and their daughter join in appearances to promote the walk. Their son, Sameer, organizes a walk team of friends and family. It’s a cause they believe in and they are more than willing to speak out in support of NAMI’s mental health mission.
“Supporting NAMI is important to us, because NAMI’s programs are a key component of the solution to the mental health crisis in our country,” added Mr. Khaliq. “NAMI programs provide essential education and support tools to help families cope, and they help families connect with others in similar situations so they realize they’re not alone and there is hope.”
NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley is a 45-year affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That’s the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. It’s dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. The local affiliate serves residents of Scott, Clinton, Muscatine, Jackson and Cedar counties in eastern Iowa and Rock Island, Henry and Mercer counties in western Illinois.
For more information, visit www.namigmv.org. To sign up for NAMIWalks or make online donations, visit www.namiwalks.org/greatermississippivalley.
