Bloomville resident walks to Walton to raise money for families in need
Nov. 24—Josiah Brown, a Bloomville resident, walked 26.2 miles Friday, Nov. 24 to raise money to make Christmas morning brighter for area families, who are struggling.
"For the last couple of years, we've plucked off a tag from the SFCU tree," Josiah Brown said. "We decided to take it up a notch."
Brown said he started walking along state Route 10 in Bloomville at 8 a.m. and made it to Delhi around 11 a.m. He planned to be at Awestruck Mill Ciders at 5 p.m. To train for the walk, he walked six miles every three days for one month. "This is the longest I've walked so far," he said.
His wife, Alix, and children Judah, 11, Reagan, 6, and Silas, 7 months, met him just outside of Delhi to give him another coat and new shoes for his walk on the cold day.
He said Friday morning he wasn't used to the cold and he was thankful it wasn't raining or snowing. He did encounter snow along the way and was treated to another visit from his family outside of Hamden, Alix said Friday evening. "I'm so proud of him," she said.
Brown said he picked Friday to walk because he knew he had the day off from work and would be home.
Brown, who is known as the New York Sherpa, is the president and CEO of Famous Destination Marketing™, and New York's Best Experiences®, which promotes travel and tourism in the state.
Brown said he contacted Delaware Opportunities to adopt two families in need this Christmas. He then decided to walk from Bloomville to Walton to raise money in order to help the families more.
He announced on his Instagram page he would walk the 26.2 miles on Black Friday and asked people to sponsor him by the quarter, half and full mile on a Go Fund Me page. The money raised will be spent on the families his family adopts. His goal is $2,600. As of press time Friday, he had raised $1,690. Along the way he posted his thanks to his sponsors, when he had cellphone service.
He said he has raised enough money to sponsor two families through Delaware Opportunities. He said he was also going to contact the Salvation Army to adopt one of their families. He plans to spend $650 on each family.
Brown said he grabbed the tags at Sidney Federal Credit Union so his children would know how it feels to donate. "The last couple years, we've given them the list and they gave us ideas on what to buy," he said. "They light up when it's time to go shopping for others."
He said when he got the list for the first family it was "very humbling." The children asked for blankets for their beds, shoes, hats, mittens, pants and coats in addition to some toys they wanted, he said. "It's not just about getting the latest Hess truck," he said. "It's about things they need."
He said his family will go shopping for the families before Dec. 15.
Alix said the Go Fund Me page will be online for another week. To donate, visit https://tinyurl.com/5d272d8c.
Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.
