Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/30/2023
EAST LONGMEADOW — The Mom Walk Collective hosts walks nationwide as a social gathering in person and online to serve mothers as a place to feel known, connected and loved.
They organize events twice a month to help support mothers build a local mom community to raise the next generation. It was established in 2022 in Orange County, Florida, by a woman named Jamie Easton who was a new mom searching for other mom friends to give her a sense of clarity in the chaos of motherhood. Easton posted a viral TikTok video where she invited any local mom to get coffee and go for a walk. From there, the Mom Collective Walk was born and it’s in 200 cities across the country.
East Longmeadow resident Lauren Pinette just had her son, and they would go on walks every single day as an opportunity to get out of the house. She enjoyed their walks although they were lonely at times.
She said, “On our walks, I would see other moms walking with one another or even other moms walking alone with their little ones. I thought to myself, ‘How amazing it would be if I had a group of moms to walk with.’”
Pinette came across the Mom Walk Collective and knew she wanted to be part of the movement and grow a local mom community for Western Massachusetts. She became the ambassador for East Longmeadow and was so excited to start bringing together other moms and growing their local mama village. Her first walk began with four moms. Now, she hosts 20 to 30 moms. Pinette told Reminder Publishing this came from her being a new mom, in a new town and being the first of her friend group to have a baby and wanting to feel supported and surround herself with other moms to have extra resources and create new friendships because motherhood is a whole new world. From having no babies to becoming a mom is truly a different season of life.
Pinette is a full-time nurse and recently went per diem. She is trying to balance work life, mom life and the collective, which she said is very challenging, but nonetheless her goal is to stick to it because she sees how it’s positively impacted the moms that have become a part of the collective.
“I want to stay consistent with hosting these two events a month and being an online and in person support for local moms,” Pinette added. “I would love to find an indoor location to host our events throughout the winter because that’s when it becomes most challenging during the colder months when we are unable to host events outdoors.”
As the host of The East Longmeadow Mom Walk Collective, Pinette is always looking for brands, companies, businesses and products to share with their moms and welcomes any local businesses that would like to be a sponsor or contribute to the collective to reach out to her, she loves building community and including partnerships with their events.
“I’ve created so many new friendships and relationships,” Pinette replied. “It seems like everywhere I go; I have someone who knows of The Moms Walk Collective or someone who knows a mom who attends our walks.”
She continued, “To know the impact that I’ve had on local moms and providing a space for moms to feel safe, comfortable and have a community because it’s difficult as a new mom to find that space. For me as a mother, it is being confident, finding your support and staying grounded.”
For more information on the Mom Walk Collective East Longmeadow and their events, follow them on Instagram @themomwalkco.eastlongmeadow and Facebook at The Mom Walk Collective, East Longmeadow. For questions, email themomwalkco.eastlongmeadow@gmail.com.