A Walk To Remember

When her six-year-old nephew Kyle died seven years ago, Melissa Orr, Joy to Life Foundation’s volunteer coordinator, was searching for a way to keep his memory alive. She began participating in different fundraising challenges. These events encourage people to complete some – often arduous – physical task like a long-distance run or a hike. The participants also ask friends and family to donate money as a show of support, and these funds all go to the nonprofit organizing the challenge. “I’ve always called the journeys I’ve taken in these challenges ‘miles for Kyle,’” Melissa says. She began with an event at Disney World but started looking for a challenge in Alabama, one that raised funds that were used to benefit fellow Alabamians.

Three years ago, she found the Make A Wish foundation’s Trailblaze Challenge, which raises money for Make a Wish Alabama, a chapter of the national Make A Wish foundation that  grants wishes for children diagnosed with a critical illness. “When I learned about Trailblazers, I was so excited,” she says. “I love that the money stays in our state and that it is all about helping kids. I knew it was the right thing to do.”

For her first Trailblaze Challenge, Melissa and a friend formed a two-person team and completed the test, a 26.3 hike on northeast Alabama’s scenic Pinhoti Trail in one day. It sounds daunting, and it’s no easy feat, but every participant works with the event’s experienced hike leaders to go through 12 weeks of training and preparation before the event. And it’s not a race; everyone goes at their own pace. Last year, Melissa did it in 13 hours.

When asked her favorite part of the trail, she joked. “The end! Just kidding. I actually like the most challenging part, a section called the rock garden that’s very rocky and unbalanced,” she says. “I like that because it really pushes me and makes me think about what these kids we’re hiking for are going through.”

The trek along the trail is not the only challenge. For some, asking others for money, even for a great cause, is even harder. “For me and for many others, we have to break out of our comfort zone to do the fundraising,” Melissa says. “Asking people to part with their hard-earned money is not easy. But so, so many people have been so giving.” She sends out letters, sells pound cakes, and last year, she sold masks to generate donations.

This year, she’s doing it all again on May 1, and her team has grown to five with a combined fundraising goal is $20,000. The money and group aren’t all that have expanded. Melissa will hike almost double the length by adding a second hike to her 2021 participation later this summer. For its fifth anniversary, the Trailbalze Challenge is letting alumni do two events, so I’m doing the Alabama one in May and then I go to South Carolina for another hike in June.” That second hike will cover 28.1 miles for a total of 54.4 miles in one year.

Melissa is committed to going the extra miles because she believes strongly in what the foundation does, and because despite its good work, there remains a big need. “There are almost 300 kids on the Make a Wish waiting list, and all funds go to the foundation with 75 percent going directly to grant to the children’s wishes,” she says.

Making a kid’s dream come true keeps Melissa’s feet moving forward even when their aching, but the sense of community that’s shared among the participants is rewarding too. “I’ve so enjoyed learning others’ stories, to find out what is driving them to do this. We share this common goal, but everyone has a different motivation.”

Last year, Melissa met some brave breast cancer survivors who provided even more inspiration. “I’m probably partial to their stories because of my work with Joy to Life, but it was just so moving. These women were doing this challenge to prove that breast cancer wasn’t going to stop them,” she says. “It was so neat to see that, so see them pushing past their own hardships and showing up to give back and do this for kids.”

And at the end of the day – and the hike day is a long one – it’s all about the kids. “It’s great knowing I’m putting a smile on the face of a child, but also smiles on the faces of their family members, because they are all suffering every day,” she says. “If I am a small part of them getting even one day of not being in a hospital and not think about treatments or needles, that keeps me going.”