By Nathan Prewett
For the Trussville Tribune
TRUSSVILLE – “It’s not a race. It’s a journey,” says the slogan for the 2017 Trailblaze Challenge by the Alabama Make-A-Wish Foundation. The journey for volunteers like Trussville resident Jan Belcher, 53, and her daughter, Katie Boswell, 28, is helping dreams come to life for children with illnesses.
Katie Boswell
“Part of it is doing something bigger than yourself,” Belcher said. “It starts conversations about why you’re doing it. It starts conversations about giving money to support these projects. Make-A-Wish is my charity and my cause. What drives me is giving something back to the community.”
On May 20, Belcher and Boswell will be at the Pinhoti Trail along with other volunteers and “Wish Granters” to raise money for children and their families at Make-A-Wish. The money will go to making wishes that the children have made become a reality.
The Trailblaze Challenge will have 30 hikers walk 26.3 miles of the Pinhoti Trail in eastern Alabama. It is the longest footrail in the state according to the Pinhoti Trail Alliance’s website. Altogether it measures 339.0 miles and runs from Alabama to the northern portion of Georgia.
A hiking group on a trail for Make-A-Wish. Submitted photo
“I’m a little bit of both,” Boswell, who works as a realtor in Trussville, said on being nervous and excited on taking part in the event. “I’ve never had to walk 26 miles in the woods and back. But I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it.”
The challenge originally began four years ago by Make-A-Wish Central and Western North Carolina. The Alabama chapter’s first Trailblaze Challenge is being headed by Valerie Gerber, who is Director of Development and Marketing at the foundation. She said the Alabama chapter is the eighth in the country to do the challenge.
“It really is an incredible experience,” Gerber said. “Hikers form a unique and genuine community. I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. People become like family when they’re pitching together. You really get to know people on the trails. They share stories and talk about why they’re doing it.”
Gerber said the goal this year is to raise $225,000. So far more than $50,000 has been raised. Currently the volunteers are training in Birmingham and Huntsville, starting with shorter trails before moving on to longer ones in preparation for the Pinhoti Trail.
“The response has been fantastic,” Gerber said. “We’re completely sold out this season. The turnout has been great. We got more signups than expected. It was filled up in two weeks.”
Jan Belcher
Belcher, who spends much of her time in Florence, SC, as a project manager for a hospital, had taken part in a hiking challenge in North Carolina before this year’s event. She said the experience was life-changing for her.
“I was feeling displaced. My kids had grown up. I wasn’t as active in church as I used to be,” she said. “I felt like I didn’t have much purpose. But to be able to volunteer and impact the lives of these kids and their families. They’re going through things I can’t imagine. It’s an opportunity to give back.”
Belcher is a Wish Granter for the foundation, someone who volunteers to work with individual children to get something for which they have asked. She has been helping a 3-year-old boy named Elie from Lineville, Ala., who has pancreatic cancer. He has had the chance to go to Disneyland.
Recently, she helped buy a cake for Eli’s birthday with a truck and tractor theme, something he loves.
“The smile on his face impacted me in a way I don’t even have the words for,” Belcher said. Wish Granters try to work with three kids a year.
McDowell Security is a sponsor for the Trailblaze Challenge this year. Boswell is another one of the sponsors for the event.
“I love giving back,” Boswell said. “My mom has enjoyed it a lot. It’s fun to be able to help her give back to the community as well.”
Donations and sponsorship of hikers can be made at alabamatrailblaze.org or by mailing to the Alabama chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation at 400 Vestavia Pkwy # 402 in Vestavia Hills.
For more information about the Alabama Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit alabama.wish.org.
