Care Walk 2026

Care Walk is the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation’s annual fundraising event and opportunity to bring together the thalassemia community and its supporters around the country. Funds raised support medical research to fight thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder, as well as patient support services for thalassemia patients across the country. This year, we are proud to be sponsored by Vertex Pharmaceuticlals as a Golden Leader Sponsor!

Price: FREE

Every Step Counts

Care Walk 2026's theme this year is "Every Step Counts."

Every walk taken supports a real person.

Every story shared fuels understanding, connection, and impact.

Every step may seem small — but for families living with thalassemia, every step forward matters.

Every hospital visit.
Every transfusion.
Every moment of strength.
Every act of support.

When we walk together, we’re not just covering distance. We’re honoring resilience, raising awareness, and moving closer to better care, a stronger community, and brighter futures.

Whether you take one step or a thousand, whether you walk beside us in person or support from afar — your step carries hope.

Because progress doesn’t happen all at once.

It happens one step at a time.

And every step counts.

Join the fight against thalassemia today by joining or supporting a thalassemia care walk below! If you do not see a team in your city for you to join below, head over to https://bit.ly/CAFCareWalk26 or reach out to communications@thalassemia.org to help start and plan a walk before the year ends! Thank you all for your support, and don’t forget to take lots of photos!

You can get involved by joining the "One Step For... " Challenge on social media.

Care Walkers can film themselves taking one single step—forward, sideways, with a cane, seated, stroller, wheelchair, anything—and finish the sentence:

“One step for ___.” (myself, someone with thalassemia both alive or not, a caregiver, a cure, etc)

The Participant talks about their Care Walk, involvement with CAF to raise awareness, and a call to action for new walkers/donors.