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Norfolk Tides, O'Conner Brewery kicks-off Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event

Norfolk Tides, O'Conner Brewery kicks-off Walk a Mile in Her Shoes registration for April 27 event.

NORFOLK — NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- The Tides, O'Connor Brewing, and the YMCA South Hampton held a kick-off event Thursday to encourage registering for the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event in April.

The YWCA of South Hampton Roads said they were honored to team up with the Norfolk Tides and O’Connor’s Brewing to kick off registration for the event takes place on April 27 in downtown Norfolk.

Members of the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Department, and Norfolk Tides' Rip Tide, and Trident are planning to wear high heels for a great cause.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes helps raise funds and awareness to help end sexual and gender violence.

“Where we get men to wear high heels and walk, not even a mile, but a couple blocks to raise awareness to sexual assault,” said Laura Boone, of the YWCA.

Last year, the YWCA answered more than 9000 calls on their crisis response hotline, and physically met with and helped 432 victims of sexual assault across Hampton Roads.

“So that’s more than one a day last year, so the need is huge, and we’re here to help folks when they need us,” said Boone.

The Tides mascots and starting pitcher, Tim Melville, said no heel is too high when it comes to raising awareness.

“Personally for me, I actually grew up here in Norfolk so being able to play for a team I grew up watching and help the community is very close to my heart,” said Melville.

Jeremy Goodwin said jamming toes into a stiletto is nothing compared to the pain some of these victims go through. He said the YWCA deserves all the help they can get.

“I do come from a family that has experienced domestic violence, and I think it’s way more common that people are willing to think about or admit so I think it’s really important to bring that to light,” said Goodwin.

Thursday’s event was also the introduction of O’Connor’s newest beer, Walk of Kolsch, with 10 percent of all sales on Thursday were donated to the YWCA.

For more information on the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event and to register, click here.

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