Date: 2004-03-17
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A letter to all who donated and supported my Habitat for Humanity fundraising effort17 March, 2004To all my supportersI¢m very excited to tell you that on the 1st of April, I will take the first step of Josh¢s Hike for Habitat, my journey of 7 million steps (give or take a few hundred thousand) along the Appalachian Trail. Although only about 10% of (overly confident and not so confident) starting through-hikers actually make it, I hope to arrive at the finish atop Mt. Katahdin Maine in about 5 months.I would like express my sincere thanks to you for your generous support. This project has occupied much of my energy for the past 2 years. The knowledge that friends like you stand behind me and Habitat for Humanity has been a constant inspiration during a trying period, and has helped keep me motivated and excited while I recovered from the knee surgery that kept me off the trail last spring.In total, 128 of you have donated over $34,000, all of which is contributing toward building a Habitat for Humanity home in Toronto. The Toronto affiliate with whom I partnered for the Hike will be starting the biggest development of its kind ever in Canada, when they break ground later this spring to build 40 homes, on one site.Over 70% of the building components were pre-built last summer leaving much of the work this summer to on-site assembly. Imagine the excitement for the families who will be buying and moving into these homes, as they work alongside hundreds of volunteers and see their homes literally grow from the ground before their eyes! While this beehive of activity is taking place in Toronto, I will be focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Since what would really highlight this journey for me is to share it with as many of you as possible, I am inviting you - yes, you! - to visit me on the Hike. I would love to be your guide for portions of this magnificent 2,160-mile trail that crosses 14 states between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Katahdin in Maine.Please consider joining me for an hour, a day, a week, maybe even longer - 5 months is a long time. I would love your company (and any goodies your heart would move you to bring!). You can join me at any point along the way. I encourage you to contact me about arrangements to meet.Even though I will not physically be at the build in Toronto, I feel like I will be labouring alongside the Habitat ¢partner families¢ (as Habitat homeowners are called). My sweating will just be in a different location! What continues to drive me is my unshakeable belief in the model and work of Habitat for Humanity. It addresses a fundamental need of all people - to have an affordable, and secure place to call home - and does so in a profound and permanent way because the model helps people in need to help themselves. Habitat for Humanity gives people a hand up, not a hand out.My experience over the past two years as a volunteer on the family selection committee with the Twin Cities Habitat affiliate in Minneapolis has only re-affirmed my belief in the value Habitat adds - building community while building hope.So, while Josh¢s Hike for Habitat is merely a 2,200-mile hike, it ultimately expresses my commitment to the betterment of our community. That¢s why I am kicking off my hike in Americus, Georgia, the international headquarters of Habitat for Humanity, where I will have the privilege to meet Millard Fuller who founded Habitat in 1976 with his wife Linda.I would like to thank you again for your support. I hope you will display the enclosed patch proudly as an emblem of what you are helping to accomplish, and to help increase the visibility of Habitat for Humanity. If you can't visit me on the Trail in person, follow my progress on my website at www.trailjournals.com/joshhikesforhabitat.A lot can happen over the next five months but in large measure we have already succeeded.Josh Loving Aaronson