"Venture across country begins today
Coquille man to walk 12,000 miles for charity
COQUILLE -- A devout Christian is planning to hitchhike 12,000 miles across America to raise money for impoverished children.
Dave Strege, a retired school teacher, will begin walking from his Coquille home today in the hope of raising $600,000 for orphanages in Sudan, Haiti and two American group homes.
The 62-year-old said, despite his love for the South Coast, he has felt listless and wanted to do something that would help children and spread a message to give.
'This is a wonderful place to live, but I wasn't happy. I was empty," he said. 'In January this year, God gave me a very clear picture of what I have to do."
Strege wrote a fiction book that came off the presses this month. Now, he plans to sell it as he travels and donate nearly all of the proceeds to children's organizations.
He says the only part of the money he will use for himself is an emergency cellphone.
Otherwise, Strege vows to rough it on $9 a day, sleep under bridges, and live by the kindness of strangers.
'It's important to me that I don't spend any of the money," he said.
In the lead up to his departure, Strege has said goodbye to his friends. He said he also has been touched by the support he's received from others in the community.
His three children, while apprehensive, have also been supportive.
He says he understands their nerves.
One of the first challenges of Strege's route will be walking across the Sierra Nevada mountains. He will traverse snow before plunging into the crippling heat of Death Valley.
From there, Strege will head east across the bottom of the U.S. and up to New England by June next year.
He will then travel back west to Oregon by October, before making a second circuit toward the East Coast.
Along the way, Strege is scheduled to speak at schools and, of course, churches, about what's he's doing.
He hopes, however, having seen child poverty first-hand in his own travels across the world, anyone will appreciate his cause, regardless of their faith.
'If you have ever held a kid in your arms that's dying, that's what it's about to me," he said."
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