The incredible power of passion

They made it! After 23 days Gary Walters and his family made it from Brainerd to Washington DC rollerblading. Every year Gary does something well beyond his capabilities and yet, with overwhelming passion, he's able to achieve his goals.

Gary and family are a great reminder for me to lift up my goals a bit higher, beyond those things which are easily within my grasp. They also remind me of the value of fun and family time. What a great memory this will be for Gary, his wife Lisa (sag wagon), daughter Jessica (biking) and son Jackson (rollerblading) as they can recall an amazing journey which also raised funds and awareness for Kinship mentoring. I'm proud of Gary and his family and hope that it will inspire many others to either become mentors or support mentoring programs. Much like their journey, mentoring can be a tremendous life changing experience, with fun along the way!

Their journey is chronicled on Facebook.

Rollerbading to DC for Kinship Mentoring

I was inspired this past Saturday morning visiting Gary Walters at Lake Calhoun, in South Minneapolis. He and his some of his family were taking a break on their journey rollerblading from Brainerd, MN to Washington DC to raise awareness for Kinship mentoring. I joined them briefly on my bike around Calhoun and Harriet, before they continued along Minnehaha Parkway, and onward toward Washington DC.

Annually Gary has taken on a big challenge to raise money and awareness for Kinship Partners. Gary believes that “If we change a kid’s life, we change the future for all of us,” The past six years Walters has biked from New Orleans to Brainerd, Minnesota, lived on Brainerd’s historic water tower for nine days, walked across Minnesota, swam across Mille Lacs Lake, lost a 100 pounds and unicycled for 24 hours. He's entitled his annual efforts "Walters Wacky Adventures".

Gary's a big guy, and has already taken a number of falls, with some significant scrapes. His intense, contagious passion makes up for the fact that he's not all that young, trim or physically fit. Gary is making the journey with his wife, Lisa, daughter Jessica, and son, Jackson. Lisa is driving the support vehicle, Jackson is rollerblading and Jessica is riding her bike.

God's speed to you Gary, Lisa, Jessica and Jackson as you continue on your courageous journey to Washington DC on behalf of kids in need of mentoring. Thanks for being great Kinship representatives and advocates!

The StarTribune posted a nice article on the Walter's adventure, Effort to raise cash for charity really rolling along: The trip to Washington, D.C., on a pair of skates is just Gary Walters' latest money-raising adventure for Kinship.

You can follow along on their journey on Walters Wacky Adventures Facebook account.