Minnesota Man Rollerblades to D.C. for Mentoring
September 1, 2009: These are the words Gary Walters wrote on his blog August 8, the day he began rollerblading 1,300 miles from Brainerd, Minnesota, to Washington, D.C., to promote mentoring: "The reason for all these events is that if good people give a little to a kid, then our world will be better."
Gary's rollerblading odyssey is the latest in his series of feats to raise money and awareness for his local youth mentoring program — Kinship Partners, Inc. — and for mentoring in general. To date, contributions total almost $9,000.
Kinship Partners is a part of the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota's network of more than 500 mentoring programs. "We have to applaud Gary and his family for their commitment to recruiting mentors for youth who would really benefit from a mentoring relationship," said Judith Kahn, interim executive director of the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota. "Sometimes it takes extraordinary actions by ordinary people to get the message across — that not everyone can (or would want to!) rollerblade across the country, but everyone can be a positive force in the life of a child."
Over the past six years, Gary's activities have included biking from New Orleans to Brainerd, walking across Minnesota and living on the local, historic water tower for nine days. Each challenge has raised between $7,000 and $25,000 for Kinship Partners. This trip, which Gary is making with his 15-year-old son rollerblading by his side and his wife and daughter following in a vehicle, will end September 9, when U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) meets him on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building.
Along the way, Gary is meeting with mentoring groups and getting as much publicity as possible. When he returns home, he will go back to his insurance business.
Another blog entry reads: "Kids are the future of our world, and all kids need the guidance and love of an adult. Some don't get this at home, or at least not enough. Thus mentoring programs are there to fill the gap."
To follow Gary and/or make a donation, go to http://www.whatisgarygoingtodo.com/. For more information about mentoring, visit www.mentoring.org.
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