Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a monumental task and can be overwhelming if you don’t properly prepare. All of the preparation, physically, mentally, financially, and logistically has consumed my mind for the last couple of weeks. But I don’t want to lose focus of what I am really intending to accomplish with this hike. So far, I have only written about personal goals and what I hope to accomplish on a personal level. However, I would like to make known the real purpose of this journey. A lot of my peers will understand this but a lot just won’t grasp this concept or intention.
I’m trying to find a way to do this and to make this work. I want to give back. I want this trip to be about more than just me and my personal journey. I just don’t know how. Strength and persistence will be a major theme on my hike but it will also apply this idea of giving back. I would like to get my church, Fellowship Church, involved. Since minute one of me thinking of this and starting to prepare I have wanted to do this so that it will benefit others. How can a personal trip help to benefit others? Well, I really truly believe that people can take more away from this than just a good ole pat on the back for Greg Stevenson. I don’t want to do this as just an accomplishment for myself but as an accomplishment for everyone.
How can this benefit other people? Well, I need help in that department. I really want to get my church involved. I have told a few people this and they are kind of puzzled about the logistics of how this can be accomplished. I have one idea but it takes a lot of help.
First, why do I want to help other people with this? I have a true compassion for people who are in need; people who are in true need of a fellow human being’s help. True, the Appalachian Trail is a huuuuuuge struggle but it is miniscule in comparison of what people who are in need go through. Christianity is all about helping others. I believe that God can use me to help others with this. This might not be a uniform way to help but I believe it can work.
MY IDEA: What if I were to do this for some charitable cause? I know a lot of people have done tons of things for specific charities like Breast Cancer Awareness, Habitat for Humanity. What if I could do it for EVERYONE? Wait, what are you talking about, Greg? This is my goal….to line up some kind of way to set up charity through my church. For instance, people donating whatever amount they want for how many miles I walk. Like if someone donates a dime for every mile I walk, and I finish, in the end that’s roughly $218. I mean, if more than one person were to do that it would tally up in the end. Say ten people donated a dime for every mile I walk…that’s a couple of thousand dollars. Even if someone donated a penny for every mile, that’s still giving. That can really change one person’s life.
THE GOAL: No, this is not a get rich quick scheme. This is for others. If this can help at least one person then I have accomplished my goal. I hope and pray that I can figure out a way to do this. It would be my goal, through the help of others, that people would give through the goodness of their hearts and through God so that those less fortunate can benefit. If I had the help of the church people could just give directly to the church. I would not even see or touch the money. If the church wanted I would do this anonymously so that it would show that I am seeking no fame or fortune through this journey. I truly truly truly to the millionth power believe that people would see this as a good and fun donating opportunity. If I knew that I was doing this for others I would definitely have more inspiration to finish the trail on those tough, down and out days.
Why would people be interested in giving or helping with this? First, to know that their donations would help others. Second, I fully intend on taking short Youtube clips and pictures along the way. I think I could truly make it entertaining for people to follow and have them experience what I am going through along the trail. This would also serve as proof of the miles I walk and the struggles I will go through. I believe I can make this very relatable to the average person as I am aware that not everyone has a passion for hiking.
I hope this does not come off as crazy but in a way this is a good crazy. Sometimes you just have to take a major chance to make a difference in someone else’s life. I think I can do just that. I want this and I think that I can do some great help to other people. I want nothing more to help others. I know it’s crazy to think that something like the Appalachian Trail can benefit others because it’s such a personal journey…but God will find a way. As a Christian, I believe in helping others in any way possible. I also believe when someone’s intentions are right with God goodness will prevail. It doesn’t make sense to me to do something like this just for myself. I don’t believe I am on this earth to just benefit myself. I want to give back.
I need help. I don’t even know where to start. I guess these journals are my way of expressing my thoughts in an organized manner but if anyone reads this I need your input. This is where I need people’s help; to get me started in the right direction. Although I am seeking my churches help I am also aware that they are very large and have a lot of things on their plate and this might not be one of them. I totally understand that so maybe I can do this on my own or with the help of others (of course through God). All I know is that I want to help others and I could really use your help.
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3 comments:
Brother, I wish I was creative enough to help with some ideas. What I can and will do is start praying for your strength and safety and for God to lead the way!
Hey Greg! This is my idea and it might not be much, but it's the best I can come up with:
Take pictures. I mean LOTS of pictures. I have a Nikon D-40 I can loan you that is a GREAT camera for both professionals and amateurs alike. I also have more than a few good digital camera books I can loan you or you can check them out at your local public library. I would be more than happy to trust you with this camera. One or two SD cards should get you LOTS of opportunities to get great pictures. Have a friend or yourself edit the pics to optimum quality (crop, lighten, darken, highlight colors, do black and white, the sky is the limit) and publish them into a book or into individual prints. Individual prints can be framed or unframed (some people actually have a preference). Hell, I'm pretty proficient at photoshop (I took classes in high school and college and apprenticed with a photographer for a year when I was 12-13 and that was with a manual camera and a dark room).
Sign them, date them, name them, etc. If you're keeping a journal on the trip, you can cross reference that with the pics and maybe insert a few impressions next to the pic to tell how you felt at that particular time so the reader can feel like they were really with you.
Make sure you catalogue what pic goes with which destination. You can even enclose a map to denote what portion of your journey you were on when you took the pic. I'm sure there's many photo opportunities on-trail.
The thing about pictures is that they evoke distinct emotions in people and it varies from person to person. One pic might make me sad but it might give someone else hope...never know.
Not everyone in the world can go on this trip. It's not easy, it's not always fun, but the views and the scenery are breathtaking and, well, spiritual in more than one sense of the word. Take someone like me - right now in my life my body is so weak from my accident that it'll take me a long time to get to fighting weight to do ANYTHING I wanna do goal-wise. Living vicariously through pictures could really benefit a person like myself. And knowing that by living vicariously a little and spending some money, I can help others? Well that's just more incentive to buy.
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I'm sure if you presented the idea to your church and made it into a type of silent auction or sale with the proceeds going to charities the church is involved in, they'd be MORE than happy to jump on board with the idea....maybe even help fund publishing and whatnot. I think that'd have to be a stipulation because mass production isn't the most inexpensive thing in the world. You wanna pop a few prints out on a computer printer, yeah..it's doable but a book is a little more costly. Just depends on quality and size and how many pics you have. Words or no words. Etc.
Bear in mind that it's a LOT of work (but like I said, if you need help, I'd love the opportunity - you know I'm doing nothing right now but sittin on my butt and collecting a govt. paycheck! haha).
You might think you have no talent for photography if you don't have experience in it but I've seen some of the best work in the world come from this trucker who used a disposable camera while he was on the road all across America - just stuff he saw out his window. Breathtaking photographs he put into a book. The difference between him and yourself is that your pics are for charity and you're covering a more specific area.
I'm sure trail guides and books have been done on the Trail before, which is why you have to make the pics personal to you and unique. I'm not talking hanging out of a tree to get an upside down picture of a bear in a stream or something. Nothing extreme. Just let the people see it from YOUR eyes, not just the camera's lens. It's not a learned ability but it can be acquired.
Ok, I'm talking a lot but it's cause the more I type the more excited and passionate I'm getting about this project! If you don't do this, you won't be breaking my heart - it's something I might do myself when I start taking trips to places I wanna go when I'm back to where I wanna be (i really wanna go backpacking down the southern coast of Ireland. I went with my dad when I was 18 but I wanna go by myself and backpack this time and just go with the flow...discover small towns and take pics of EVERYTHING).
If anymore ideas jump into my head, I'll let you know!!!
One favor- if you go along with my idea, would you mind marketing this to my mom's church and my synagogue, too? See if maybe they'd jump on board? The money would purely be going to charities that they fund and any other charities you wanna throw in there, too. Finding someone to publish it shouldn't be hard. There are plenty of photographers in the area I know that use certain companies to mass produce their work or for weddings and the like.
I'm sure whatever idea you go with, it'll be great. You have motivation and determination enough to go on this trip - then you have motivation and determination to make this work for you no matter what. It doesn't shock me that you wanna help people...it's just you being you...but it's still cool as all get-out!
Good luck, buddy! Give me a call or hit me up on FB if you wanna talk about it!
859-285-8958
Later and God bless! - Caity
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