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SavageLlama
01-22-2005, 13:15
2,160 miles to go

By Pete Colaizzo
Poughkeepsie Journal
January 20, 2005


Jesse Saperstein knows. He knows the odds of his walking the entire length of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com /><st1:country-region w:st=Georgia</st1:country-region> to <st1:State w:st=" /><ST1:place w:st="on">Appalachian Trail</ST1:place> are stacked against him. He knows his hiking experience is woefully inadequate for the task at hand. <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:p></O:p>

Janis and Lewis Saperstein know. They know their son's proposed endeavor -- walking the entire, 2,160-mile length of the trail from <ST1:place w:st="on">Maine</ST1:place> this spring and summer -- is fraught with potential pitfalls. They know their son has a much better chance of landing a job or pursuing a masters degree than completing this grueling walk in the wilderness. <O:p></O:p>

But there is more to this story than an improbable hike by a young man who admitted that, until a few years ago, his ''roughing it'' experience consisted of camping out in the backyard of his grandparents' home in Millerton. There's more to it than a recent college graduate who, on practice hikes along the well-marked AT, has gotten terrifyingly lost in the woods -- while still in <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Dutchess</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place>! <O:p></O:p>

Jesse Saperstein knows. He knows that he has a better chance of graduating from medical school or law school than completing his AT hike. But he's going to give it a go, anyway, because he won't be alone out there in the woods. <O:p></O:p>

For Saperstein, a 2000 graduate of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Arlington</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">High School</st1:PlaceType> and a <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Pleasant</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place> resident, this hike is about far more than personal achievement. His goals transcend simply avoiding blisters and bears, not getting lost and making sure his backpack is not weighed down with unnecessary junk. <O:p></O:p>

No sir. Saperstein wants to finish his hike. But more than that, he wants to educate and enlighten people along the way about AIDS. His hike will be a fund-raiser for the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation. His goal is to raise $100,000 for the foundation, which is named after a young man who has been HIV positive for years and who has helped raise awareness of the disease through his upbeat message and positive work for the cause. <O:p></O:p>

Saperstein graduated in 2004 from <st1:City w:st="on">Hobart</st1:City> and <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">William</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Smith</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Colleges</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place> with degree in English and a minor in peer education. He has devoted his first post-college year to the hike and all its attendant needs. <O:p></O:p>

n He sent out letters to every member of his 2004 college graduating class. At one point last summer, the dining room table at his <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Pleasant</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place> home was smothered by envelopes, letters and stamps. <O:p></O:p>

n He has invested in as much hiking equipment he will need along the way. He has become friendly with employees at the Eastern Mountain Sports store in <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:place w:st="on">Poughkeepsie</ST1:place></st1:City>, where he has purchased much of the equipment and received much friendly advice. <O:p></O:p>

n He has reached out to local and national media to tell his story, and the story of the Joey DiPaolo Foundation. <O:p></O:p>

n He has dutifully researched every aspect of his AT adventure. He knows how much food to bring, which mail drops he will use and how much weight he wants to carry on his back. He has even linked up with two potential hiking partners online. <O:p></O:p>

During his research, Saperstein learned that a whopping 20 percent of potential AT through-hikers call it quits after a scant two weeks. More than anything else, Jesse Saperstein does not want to become such a statistic. <O:p></O:p>

Saperstein said he hopes his hike will be a way to depict the struggle so many people afflicted with HIV/AIDS have to go through every day. <O:p></O:p>

''The constant walking uphill and downhill almost every day should serve as a metaphor for the relentless battle one has to face with HIV/AIDS,'' he said. ''It is extremely difficult to imagine quitting over anything other than a serious injury.'' <O:p></O:p>

Saperstein's family is supportive -- if not mildly concerned -- with his hike, which is scheduled to begin at <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Springer Mountain</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ga.</st1:State></ST1:place>, on March 9. His mom, Janis, has helped with the mounds of paperwork Jesse has created in his fund-raising and publicity efforts. <O:p></O:p>

But being a mom, Janis Saperstein also has concerns about the mammoth task at hand for her son. <O:p></O:p>

''I'm nervous about it, sure,'' Janis Saperstein said. ''But my husband and I are supporting him. This is what he wants to do. For Jesse, this is his passion right now.'' <O:p></O:p>

Indeed it is. <O:p></O:p>

When Jesse Saperstein takes his first step on the AT, he will have prepared to the best of his ability. Included in that have been several practice hikes on local sections of the AT. Most recently, he hiked a 26-mile stretch from Poughquag in <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Dutchess</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType> to <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Kent</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Conn.</st1:State></ST1:place> <O:p></O:p>

Practice makes perfect? <O:p></O:p>

He also tried a few practice walks from his <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Pleasant</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place> home to Millerton, where his father Lewis owns and operates Saperstein's -- a store that has been a centerpiece in the village for nearly 60 years. It took him four tries before Jesse was able to complete the 29-mile journey through the <ST1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Harlem</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place>. <O:p></O:p>

Along the way, he learned valuable lessons on how much to keep in his backpack. With all his practice hikes, he also realized what a difficult task he has ahead of him. All of which is not lost on his father. <O:p></O:p>

''I tried to talk him out of it,'' Lewis Saperstein said. ''It's such an undertaking. It's scary. The trail is more than 2,100 miles, through mountains and scrambling up rocks. But once he sets his mind to something, that's it. When I realized he wasn't going to change his mind, I was supportive. He has great aspirations, and it's very noble what he's trying to do.'' <O:p></O:p>

Saperstein said his three main goals with the hike are as follows: 1. To finish; 2. To show others that if they badly want to achieve a goal, they can; 3. To raise funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS. <O:p></O:p>

Saperstein said he realizes he is taking many chances with his proposed hike. But when explaining his motivation, he likes to summon one of his favorite quotes from Michael Jordan: ''You miss 100 percent of all shots you don't take.'' <O:p></O:p>

Said Saperstein: ''I have no right to definitely say I'm going to finish. But after all this work, I'm going to do my best to go as far as I can with it.'' <O:p></O:p>

- - -<O:p></O:p>

Icicle
01-22-2005, 18:46
Sorry to write this...but hey...hike your own...

this article...IMHO is a bit too much hype and publicity for something that is, to me, is a bit personal....

anyone doing it (hiking the trail) that has a bit of a " write up in the local " has too much pressure on them....

I have my own reasons for doing it...even my husband has his own reasons for doing it...and we are walking two different trails as far as I am concerned...

anyway...that's my 2p.

FatMan
01-22-2005, 22:00
I hope he's not funding his hike with the donations. I find that to be a bit sleazy. If all donations are going directly to the charity I find his efforts admirable and I will donate on his behalf.

wacocelt
01-23-2005, 01:47
this article...IMHO is a bit too much hype and publicity for something that is, to me, is a bit personal....

anyone doing it (hiking the trail) that has a bit of a " write up in the local " has too much pressure on them....

I personally agree with you, however, perhaps this person will make it to Katahdin purely and simply because of the self implied pressure. If this kid can get through a few tough days because he knows people are counting on him, then more power to him. Just because we may think him a fool, doesn't make him foolish.

A-Train
01-23-2005, 01:59
You gotta remember with these articles that often these local writers skew facts, mess up or stretch the truth and make these adventures way more dramatic than they are.

Whether he's got a charity or has an article writen about him isn't gonna make walking 2170 miles a lot easier. Its still quite a trip

The Hog
01-23-2005, 08:24
I want to wish Jesse the best of luck. It takes guts to proclaim your intentions in such a public manner and to put yourself on the line like this. Teddy Roosevelt once said,

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

I started my hike with a young couple who were doing a fundraiser. They had trained physically for over a year, and had organized the logistics to the nth degree. They even made a splash in the media, appearing in newspapers and on TV. They had done their homework, they were tough, and they were committed. I said to myself, 'There's no way they're not making it."

But the Trail proved me wrong. After five days of cold rain, mud, sleet, gale force winds (reportedly including a tornado), and lightning on the ridgetop, they were done. They left the Trail on the sixth day, well short of the NC border. Only the crazies, the truly obsessed (like me) continued on...

There's no shame in crashing and burning. It happens to most of us at some point. The shame is in shrinking from a challenge, in opting out of trying to do what you really want to do.

Crash
01-23-2005, 12:29
What a burden on the shoulders of that young man. It makes failure even harder.
A lot of folks go on the trail to relieve their psychological burdens. The physical burden then is light on their shoulders.
I just hope he and others like him aren't setting themselves up for failure. that's a hard lesson to learn.
Crashing is a hard road to take.

Rain Man
01-23-2005, 14:37
... It makes failure even harder. ...

Failure?

Rain Man

.

Crash
01-25-2005, 00:47
It makes the failure of not doing the trail an even harder burden to bear.
now does that sound right
sorry it was late when i wrote that.

LoJack
10-27-2005, 18:53
I hope he's not funding his hike with the donations. I find that to be a bit sleazy. If all donations are going directly to the charity I find his efforts admirable and I will donate on his behalf.
Dear FatMan:
Hi! How are you? My name is Jesse Saperstein, and my trailname is LoJack because at the beginning of the hike my mom made me carry a Beacon Locator Device at the beginning of the hike. (A "LoJack" is a device put inside expensive cars so the police can track them down in case they are hi-jacked.) I promptly sent it back as soon as I got to Neel's Gap. Everytime I told someone that story they would double over laughing. One hiker said, "If all of our mothers planned our hikes then we would all be Beacon Locator children!" Anyway, that is the pathetic story of how I got my trailname. Now I am finally home from the trail I have all the time in the world to write letters and respond to e-mails. I would like to respond to the comment you made on the forum.
I appreciate all the nice comments you and the other hikers made regarding my intentions to hike the entire Appalachian Trail for the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation. The hike started on March 9th, 2005 and finally ended on October 18th, 2005 at approximately 5 p.m. I climbed Mount Katahdin on a Class Two day on October 11th and finished 38 miles I had yellow-blazed all the way back in July from October 16th-18th. It felt great to finish and know I had hiked every mile. In addition to completing the trail, the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation raised over $18,000.00 for Pediatric AIDS. This figure is continuing to climb, and an ABC Eyewitness News broadcast shortly after November 6th will hopefully give the fund-raiser a little more leverage. I hope you will make a contribution after I write you this e-mail.
I am not offended by your comment on the web site, but I would like to be honest with you and respond to what you said. No, not all the contributions are going directly to the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation (JDAF). The deal I made with the co-founders of the foundation is I would do everything possible to help them raise money for the camp they run once a year for kids who have HIV/AIDS. Most importantly, I would not give up in my goal to finish the Appalachian Trail. In return, 10% of the proceeds would go to financially assist me on my Appalachian Trail hike. 10% of $18,000.00 is, of course $1,800.
After working for a non-for-profit organization I have learned a great deal about fund-raising and people skills. One of the harder, more frustrating lessons I have learned is fund-raising is a business just like any other
money-generating operation. Sometimes the monetary income is very poor compared to how much is put into the fund-raising projects and other times it is just the opposite. Fund-raising is very challenging. Rejection happens 90% of the time or even more. I have had a lot of doors slammed in my face, but the ones that have stayed open made all the difference. People involved in this kind of work are at the total mercy of whether people care to make a contribution or whether the particular cause is considered to have importance in today's world. For example, a fund-raiser trying to raise money for Gambler's Annonymous programs or Emphezema Awareness will have a lot less luck than someone raising money for say...breast cancer. The answer to "why" is obvious. The latter two diseases are seen as "self-inflicted" and not worth contributing money towards. My fund-raiser was more successful because it had to do with children, although just raising money for HIV/AIDS is pretty challenging. HIV/AIDS is not seen as a huge problem anymore even though it is. The other thing you have to know about fund-raising is that it can be very expensive!!
The summer before I left for the trail I spent fund-raising for the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation. I did not work a regular job because I had money from my college graduation, and I wanted to devote as much time as possible to building up the fund-raiser. I would send out hundreds of envelopes at a time to potential contributors. The foundation gave me absolutely no money during this time. My own money went toward stamps, envelopes, massive photocopying, having CVS print pictures of myself on the trail so I could enclose it in the envelopes, etc. This got very expensive and was frustrating because most people did not respond to the solicitations with checks. Our big break came in the form of a $10,000.00 contribution from a celebrity who wished to remain anonymous. I wish I had kept track of every single receipt spent on these stationary items, but I am notoriously bad at keeping financial records. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. I do not have an exact tally of every financial purchase I made, but I know for a fact over $1,000.00 of my own money was spent on building up the fund-raiser. If any money was left over from these purchases it was very little.
I absolutely do not feel the slightest bit of guilt of accepting 10% of the proceeds from the fund-raiser. I see it as a reimbursement for money I should not have had to spend. People who are not CEOs of UNICEF are not in the non-for-profit charity business to make an enormous profit for themselves. If they do then odds are they are guilty of either fraud or embezzlement. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for people heavily involved with a non-for-profit foundation to receive a stipend (a small, but reasonable, sum of money to cover their basic living expenses) or even draw a salary. What I am trying to say is if a few hundred dollars had been left over from the reimbursement I would not have felt guilty about spending it on the Appalachian Trail hike.
I have said what I had to say. You are welcome to reply to my response on my regular e-mail, which is [email protected] or you can
e-mail me back on my WhiteBlaze account if it is easier. The web page with all the journal entries and photographs is: www.hikeforAIDS.org (http://www.hikeforAIDS.org). If you would like to make a contribution to the fund-raiser then the address to send a check is: The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation; 108 Vineland Avenue; Staten Island, NY 10312. If you still do not agree with my acceptance of 10% of the proceeds and choose not to make a contribution as a result then there is nothing I can do about that.
I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Jesse "LoJack" Saperstein

Uncle Silly
11-05-2005, 00:54
Great job, LoJack. I hope you got out of it everything (and more) that you put into it -- and I'm not just talking financially.