951 Gofundme AT appeals

[Fireonwindcsr]

This thread reminds me of when I moved to Queens, New York in 1987 from a small country town in Maryland. A panhandler looked me dead in the eyes and said, "can you spare a dollar? I got my 50 acres and a mule... I now need a Cadillac". Of course I laughed and gave him some change..... Begging to collect money for a hike..... Really? Go to your local park and walk around for 5 months..... Visit your parents for "magic"...

[shelb]

I wish my sons could "Gofundme" a college education! (My 18 year old is mega ttying to fund his college ed with scholarships....)

[LittleRock]

I agree with those who say "just don't donate". One of the best lessons for young people to learn is that the rest of the world truly doesn't care about them or what they want. Let them try and be disappointed.

[Grinch]

Just shows how bad our self entitled society is really getting.

[BonBon]

Wow- you guys are harsh! I'm just going to admit that I did an (unsuccessful) appeal for funds to hike the AT when I was about 20 years old. At that age, we are still very much in our egocentric phase of development, and it really is "all about me." I am hiking this year, at age 51, and I am paying for my hike myself. (I did send an REI wish list out to my family though, and scored a couple of gift cards from my mom and a used Kelty from my sis-in-law)
I am happy that these kids want to give it a try, and I understand that there are no funds for it right out of school. Not everyone is going to be able to make it, but for those that do, they will get to savor the memory instead of yearn for the adventure as they wipe their babies bottoms and get up at 6:01am day in and day out for the rest of their productive lives. And maybe they will have a life changing experience that takes them away form the path they were heading and leads them to something more enriching. I say GO FOR IT! There are tools available now to make the hike happen for these kids that were not available to me when i was younger (like gofundme) but if they were there, I would have tried them too at age 20.

[Coffee]

The world is different today than in the 1980s but I had a good sized net worth at the age of 18 from part time jobs and newspaper routes. I could have easily funded an AT thru hike at that point if that had been a priority for me (but it was not even on the radar). After two years of college, I had an opportunity to thru hike the JMT before my final two years, but passed on it to make more money that summer. Instead I hiked from Happy Isles to Tuolumne and did some other things in Yosemite over a week. After that point, I don't think that I ever had an opportunity to take more than 10 days off at any time until a few years ago.

So three things stick in my mind: (1) if thru hiking is a priority at a young age, it should be possible to save the $5-6K or so for a budget thru hike; (2) if you have the funds and the desire to do this at a young age, do it because you may be middle aged or elderly before you can do so again; (3) if friends and family want to fund a hike there isn't anything wrong with that, although I don't think seeking funds from total strangers makes any sense at all. Personally I wouldn't ask for funding for a vacation from anyone, but I'm not going to castigate people who do. Lots of young people get funding for all sorts of less worthy endeavors all the time like cars, iPhones, other travel, etc. So let's keep these funding appeals in perspective.

[Starchild]

... My guess is that those who fund their thru-hikes through others (mom, dad, friends, strangers, donators, etc) are less likely to complete their journeys than those who fund them themselves, but I don't really know.
...

I don't know either but my WAG would be it could be the opposite - I feel it was for me. I found it greatly motivating to receive gifts along the way from friends and acquaintances and to know that people did care about me and what I was doing and even that I was motivating and helping them in their lives.

I would have actually considered a completed thru hike totally self funded a bit of a failure. Not in myself, but in what I needed to get out of the hike, acceptance for who I am and what I need to do in my life. I got this in overabundance and also more importantly it has remained with me today.

Perhaps there is a difference for those who have never been on their own, still under parental support, as the level of appreciation may not be the same as someone who has been self funding their (pre-AT) life then have this vast network of support that brought me to tears of joy many times along the way.

I also feel those people who did help me helped out humanity as well and feel it was a great investment in us all. The large difference is knowing I was cared about and humanity is good and kind and giving has taught me that humanity is worthy of helping. Before my thru, as I didn't receive this level of caring I had no incentive to give it. I had to learn to receive kindness to be able to really give it.

In that I disagree with the statements (above in this thread) that there are better causes to donate to. I find it a very worthwhile cause to help a person achieve their goals - as unlike feeding a homeless person (who will just require more food the next day) - it pays great dividends to humanity.

[10-K]

This is not much different than the hiker I saw in Manchester Center holding a sign that said, "Out of money, help me finish the AT".

As a rule, I don't give money to people for non-essential things like going on a hike or getting a new vehicle.

I do donate to organizations who target needy populations/groups that I feel compelled to help.

[Coffee]

Flipping around the question a little bit, I would never give money to a stranger to thru hike the AT. But I probably would even fully fund the hike of a young person who is a close relative, has demonstrated responsibility, has a genuine interest in thru hiking, and would otherwise miss the opportunity. I'd probably tag along as well.

[10-K]

Flipping around the question a little bit, I would never give money to a stranger to thru hike the AT. But I probably would even fully fund the hike of a young person who is a close relative, has demonstrated responsibility, has a genuine interest in thru hiking, and would otherwise miss the opportunity. I'd probably tag along as well.

I told my oldest son that I'd pay his thru hike expenses. He's about to turn 24 so I don't know if I'd reconsider now that he's well into young-adulthood. He was 18 when I made the offer.

[Cookerhiker]

I told my oldest son that I'd pay his thru hike expenses. He's about to turn 24 so I don't know if I'd reconsider now that he's well into young-adulthood. He was 18 when I made the offer.

Ha,ha - how's his memory? Watch him redeem the offer when he's 45!

[wdanner]

To me, the irony of all these response is that most people's lives would be greatly enriched if, instead of focusing on other people and things they have no control over, people focused on their own lives. I don't plan to lay on my deathbed regretting how I wished I had cursed those people with GoFundMe pages more.

[Wülfgang]

I agree with those who say "just don't donate". One of the best lessons for young people to learn is that the rest of the world truly doesn't care about them or what they want. Let them try and be disappointed.

Concur.

It's never surprising when someone begs for money, I just cant believe a total stranger actually WOULD donate to float someone's hiking vacation. GTFO. This is a recreational activity.