I'm writing a diary I should have written several months ago, but failed to. I'm hoping that you take the time to read through and pass the story along.
This is about a good friend of mine, an old college roommate, who has taken on an incredible challenge because he felt called to make a difference. This diary is a call to action to get behind a noble cause and help one man make a world of difference.
Walk with me...
When I got to Pepperdine in the Fall of 2003, as is often the case with college freshmen, I moved into a suite full of guys from all walks of life. The four rooms housed eight guys who quickly adopted the name "The Minority Suite". There were two Egyptians, a Japanese-American, a Jew who traced his lineage back to the South Pacific (he was adopted), an Argentine-American born in Belgium, someone who could best be described as "brown" (that'd be me), and two Anglo-Mexican-Americans (Ameri-Mexi-Saxons? Saxicans?) We were obviously a very unique bunch but we really came to appreciate the melting pot that was our living situation.
One of these young men was my friend Josh Andre a surfer, runner, and all-around health freak. Josh had this crazy habit of lacing up his running shoes and setting off for hours on a run around campus, the local trails through the mountains, or along PCH, before working out down at our gym and then stopping by the cafeteria to pick up a fully-loaded ham or turkey sandwich on wheat, a bag of pretzels (off of which he would scrape the salt), and a small cup of honey (the pretzels and honey were his "dessert"). Josh was the anti-Atkins. Most of his diet consisted of some form of carbs. Cereal, bagels, sandwiches, and salads were quite literally all he ate while in college. He ran nearly everyday and would often return from hours of running around in 90+ degree heat with very little in the way of sweat or fatigue. Josh was what I like to call, a "Manimal". Sometimes he truly didn't seem human.
Fast forward to our Senior year. We're all getting ready for graduation and trying to figure out where our various degrees will take us in life and Josh starts to dream up a crazy plan. Josh decides that he wants to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail. (For those of you pressed for time or link lazy, that's a 2,650 mile gorgeous, but treacherous footpath that runs from Mexico to Canada.) Here's Josh's thinking in his own words:
While spending money on equipment and planning for the hike, I came to the realization that I must spend my resources and time for something more than just myself, and I began questioning whether I should continue with my plans. Africa had been on my mind and, after praying and exploring other options, I came across Worldvision's sports fundraising program, which helps raise money for those around the world who suffer from HIV/AIDS.
After doing some research on the program, Josh decided that this was exactly what he wanted to do. He quickly created this page and asked that we try to spread the word in order to help him raise money. Now, I gave $50 and emailed a few folks, but soon went back to the ever-stressful search for housing and a job and failed to really give my all to promote his efforts. Given my failure (and the failure of the rest of his friends) to get his message out there, Josh was only able to raise $300 of his $2000 goal. Unfortunately, donations to sponsor him are no longer possible because his donation page expired.
"Expired? Why am I reading this diary, then?" you might be asking. You're reading this because although you cannot directly sponsor my friend Josh, you can still sponsor one of the many other individuals or groups that are doing incredible things to help raise money for important causes around the world.
All I ask is that you check out the various fundraising pages and find a cause that you feel strongly about. Hell, you might even feel compelled to give a little to each one. What ever you do, I hope that you give a little somewhere, somehow. You can even create your own fundraising pageif this sounds like your type of thing.
Like I said in the beginning, this is a diary I should have written a long time ago, but got too caught up in myself to write. I feel terrible for Josh not making his goal because for the 4 months or so he's been doing something much greater than himself, while I've enjoyed a cushy job, a steady paycheck, and a roof over my head. Consider this my penance. Thanks for reading.