View Full Version : Hiking for Charity
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2006/2/26/145951.html
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2006/2/26/145951.html
I wish them luck! Our very own Nate "Tha Wookie" Olive continues to do similar good works.
I also wish them luck but I oppose using the AT as a fundraiser for charity. That is my opinion, I think people should hike because they want to. I remember a hiker, hiking to raise money for some charity. She had alot of publicity and pledges. She missed her boyfriend and went home before she hiked 100 miles. Another southbounder was hiking for medical research. She left Katahdin after newspaper articles and televised news confrences,. I met her in Virginia a year later, still plodding along after leaving and returning to the trail several times. I never did hear she finished. I think a hiker is better off to raise some money for charity. donate themselves, but when you get ready for a thru hike do it because you want to. That way you only have to answer to yourself if you quit or better yet, when you finish know you did it for yourself. It all goes back to hike your own hike. You just can't hike someone elses hike.:)
I tend to agree with Moxie and feel there are better ways of raising for charity than hiking the trail. I compare it to bringing your own food into a restaurant or seeking donations to one type of charity when you're at a fund raiser for another.
Of course, YMMV.
what if youre going to do the hike anyway, then let people donate, I agree however that a percentage should go to the AT to help protect the remaining unprotected sections. If someone could make money for a charity on my fun I say let em. Although I would not run the charity myself. If nothing else when you finish all your reciepts would be deductable and someone would eat that otherwiser wouldnt. whateve peace paw
I believe that is a awsome ministry however I met a dude in Hotsprings last year hiking for charity and he seemed to be depressed cuz hardly everyone hiking was'nt much intrested or had the funds to aid his charity. I would not expect hikers taking 6 months plus off of work and/or living on a fix income to be able to contribute either.Also he seem to totally miss the beauty of the AT cuz his motive was not fixated on the hike as so much his charity.I would just HMOH and allow others to ask questions and make their own donations,Also I would get mainstream donations outside of the hiker community and just enjoy your hike.
Unwired from Rivanna & Unwired (Charlottesville, VA) raised something like $150K for his local Boys & Girls Club in 2000. And he did it quietly. I didn't find out til after the hike. He challenged some well heeled friends to pony up, and apparently they did - big time.
There is more than one way to skin a polecat.
Trail Dog
02-27-2006, 12:03
well this seems to be a frequent post topic. My wife and i plan to do the 'ECT' as a charity hike. I think a big issue is pushing your charity while on the trail.
I hear of two type of charity hikers those who let the trail be their medium for the charity, just a sort of vehicle to carry the story and those who hit the trail and carry around a sign and ask hikers for money and do the same in trail towns.
Hike the hike and keep the charity off the trail, it will draw outside attention from non hikers more likely then it will from hikers. A hiker says "so what 2000 miles big deal", a non hiker says "damn 2000 miles he/she must really believe in their cause i think i will donate a dollar."
When and if my wife and i hike for charity we won't even tell other hikers that we are. We are going to do the hike either way, its just a matter of wheither of not we want to add a charity to it.
As long as the hiker pays his own way and keeps donations stricktly to the charity and doesn't broadcast the charity while hiking i see it as a great idea.
Chef2000
02-27-2006, 14:58
Last year I almost got Killed by ******* because I posted my opinion of Charity hikes on another forum site.
If you must raise money for some worthy cause by hiking the AT, make sure all that the money you raised is given to the charity.
Accept only money, charities can not use a free hotel room. Do not use the "charity" to get free food and perks along the way. It is not fair to the group you are raising money for.
make sure you have all that you need before you hike, so you do not have to "borrow" from the charity fund.
Okay let me have it, I can take it. In advance , last year, I donated 2200 dollars of my own hard earned money to various charities, schools and churches.
Tha Wookie
02-27-2006, 15:33
I wish them luck! Our very own Nate "Tha Wookie" Olive continues to do similar good works.
Thanks, Jeff.
The rules I live by with are the following, and I suggest them for others wishing to do a charity with their hike:
1) I admit I hiking the trail for myself 1st, not the charity. People appreciate honesty. My view is "why not publicize a good thing with my web-journal readers and hike in general"?
2) I have a very deep personal connection with my fundraiser. But the money never touches my hands or account. They get 100% of every dollar donated.
3) I do not solicit any funds on the hike or in the towns. If it comes up in normal conversation, I will talk about it, but I'm a hiker, not a salesman. I respect other people's experience, and know that they don't want to be continually solicited by hikers. Check out ALDHA's Endangered Services Campaign.
4) Welcome Home Ministries is a 501c3 non-profit organization that provides care in a family atmosphere to children with physical or developmental challenges. I raise money for them because the children need it. The Rod and Linda Price family have put over 50 kids through their house. Currently, they have 15 kids. What they are able to provide for children who have been otherwise abandoned is completely inspiring to me, and the memory of theor son Josh inspires every step of my hikes. This is the real deal. Every dollar goes directly to buying food, medicine, and upgrading their house to accomodate the family's growing needs and safety of the children.
5) I get tremendous support from my family and network of Athens friends. Any successful fundraiser cannot be a one-man show. As many hikers depend on home base for the normal logisitics of the hike, I caution others to overload home base without carefully considering the amount of time they will have to devote for your cause.
Sites like whiteblaze are excellent places for spreading the word, but don't wear it out and be ready for criticism.
I still don't get the connection. The trail itself relies on donations. If anything the trail itself should be the beneficiary.