Pair walks coast to coast for a cure
Michael Ross, left, and George Crawford stand in front of a staging map in their hometown of Manchester, Conn.
The wind unfurls a flag carried by George Crawford on the Panhandle Trail in Bulger as he and Michael Ross passed through Washington County recently on their journey to Los Angeles from their home in Connecticut.
BURGETTSTOWN – “Would you guys like some bottles of water for your trip?” asked a friendly employee at the McDonald’s in Burgettstown. “The only catch is you have to take a photograph with us.”
Mike Ross and George Crawford have met plenty of people wanting to help them as they walk from Connecticut to California.
Well, for the most part.
“New Jersey was the worst,” Crawford said. “Knocking on doors is always 50/50, but nobody in New Jersey wanted to help us out. Pennsylvania has been much kinder.”
Ross and Crawford are walking across the United States to raise money and awareness for the nonprofit organization Livestrong. They began their journey in their hometown of Manchester, Conn., walking roughly 500 miles through New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They were making their way through Washington County Tuesday on the final leg of the Pennsylvania portion of their journey before heading into West Virginia on their way to Springfied, Ohio.
Ross, 18, and Crawford, 19, graduated from high school in May. Both men are U.S. Marine recruits and are scheduled to ship out for training in January. They’re using their free time to hike across the country while raising money to fight cancer.
Along the way, they’ve been camping in backyards and sleeping in compensated hotel rooms and on the couches of strangers. They’ve been guests to local celebrities and have become friends with the homeless.
Their laissez-faire attitude to preparation has led them to knock on doors to ask strangers if they could camp on their lawns. A trip like this could be a great equalizer.
“We’ve noticed that wealthy people don’t answer the door,” Ross said. “People who have less always seem willing to give more.”
They’ve met some interesting people along the way.
As with all truly epic voyages, they were guided by a wise mentor. While walking in New York, they ran into a man named Adam Mitchell in Mahopac. Mitchell, a master of the martial art Jissen Kobudo, is the owner of a dojo.
“He ran out of his dojo wanting to know what we were doing,” Crawford said. “He was a survivalist and had ridden his bicycle across the country.”
“We were carrying so much crap,” Ross said. “He was able to go through our stuff and tell us what we actually needed and what we didn’t.”
They were treated to an NHL playoff game between the Penguins and the Bruins by PensTV hostess Katie O’Malley, something that left a profound impression on the two native New Englanders.
“I think we’re Penguins fans now,” Ross said. “We never really liked the Bruins.”
So far, the pair have raised nearly $1,400 for the Livestrong organization, both through their website, www.WalkingForaCure2013.com, and through people making in-person donations in the towns in which they pass through.
In addition to raising funds, their trip has generated a lot of media attention as well. The two have been featured in local radio, television and print stories in four states and their Facebook page, “Walking Across America for a Cure,” has reached more than 11,000 followers. Despite their media clout, the two said they aren’t doing anything special.
“Some of our friends say, ‘I’m so jealous; I wish I could do something as cool as that,'” Crawford said. “But there’s nothing stopping you. You can just do it.”
Once they started their trek, they didn’t have to think about their cause.
“Everyone is affected by cancer,” Crawford said. “One in four gets the disease, and it affects pretty much everyone.”
As for their affiliation with Livestrong, the two said the bad publicity generated by Lance Armstrong’s admission of using performance-enhancing drugs really hurt an organization they respected.
“You heard about (Armstrong’s) bad reputation,” Crawford said. “But Livestrong lost 10 percent of their income this year. They didn’t deserve the bad press they got.”