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By Leon G. Russ
HOMETOWN NEWS
Zach Bonner is an 11-year old Tampa native with bright red hair who would stand out in any crowd. However when you learn about the boy and his numerous charitable endeavors you realize his hair coloring is the least of the reasons that this most special child would stand out among any number of people, no matter their ages or stations in life.
Since the time Zach was eight years old a desire to help others seems to have been deeply embedded within him.
It started in 2007 when Hurricane Charley hit Florida and Zach went from house to house collecting water in his little red wagon. He loved helping so much his mother, Laurie noted he “didn’t want it to end.”
From there he raised money to help with an “Extreme Home Makeover and from that he got the idea that he wanted to help the homeless,” she said.
It progressed to where he made 2,000 backpacks filled with hygienic items and toys for homeless kids all across the country.
He then expanded to providing school supplies to orphanages in Mexico and Honduras and Christmas items for two years running for children who were caught up in Hurricane Katrina.
On Wednesday this charitable dynamo stopped by Spartanburg’s Cleveland Park on his trek to Washington, D.C. and what he hopes is a meeting with President Barack Obama.
This time Zach is walking to raise awareness of the plight of homeless children.
The walk began in November 2007 with a 280-mile walk from his home in Tampa to the state capital of Tallahassee.
That walk saw Zach raise $25,000 in supplies and donations for homeless children.
Laurie explained about halfway through the walk Zach raised the idea of walking all the way to Washington, D.C.
The walk has been broken down into stages, the first in Florida, then a 280-mile walk from Tallahassee to Atlanta, and the final leg from Atlanta to Washington which will complete his 1,225-mile journey.
On his Spartanburg stop Zach was joined by Chesnee Elementary School students in a walk around Cleveland Park.
The students learned of Zach when Nadia Alley, a teacher’s assistant, alerted the class to his journey.
Alley herself was about to embark on a cross-country bike ride for the homeless when she suffered a broken wrist. Once she discovered Zach’s mission she knew she had to bring it to the attention of her class.
At the class’ meeting with Zach, student Austin Johnson presented him with letters the class had written to President Obama about homeless children. They hope Zach will be able to personally present the letters.
Their letters will be added to the thousands of other letters Zach is collecting on his way to Washington.
Johnson said, “I think it’s really great to help Zach and I hope the letters get to the president.”
Alley noted when the class found out Zach would be passing through Spartanburg “we had to be here to meet him.”
The kids’ teacher, Jill Tallent, noted it was important for the class to come out. “Before we saw the video on Zach I asked them to raise their hand if they thought they could make a difference” in the world. “Only a couple hands went up.”
After they saw all Zach had accomplished she asked the question again, “The entire class raised their hands.”
Tallent noted, “Our kids need someone to look up to and he’s their age” so he became an inspirational figure to them.
For many students inspirational figures are larger than life and if they ever find themselves face to face with that person they often are too overcome to say anything.
With Zach that’s not a problem. As they walked around Cleveland Park he was peppered with questions from the students. Being around the same age and height and with the same interests in video games and cars made it easy.
Timothy Branton asked him, “How many cities have you been in?” Zach replied, “Too many to count.”
On this day a heavy downpour interrupted his walk. Zach explained it’s rained often on his journey and he has raingear to handle the weather.
This year’s walk started on May 11th and he said he covers between 11 to 13 miles a day and expects to end up in Washington on or about July 9.
He noted he got the idea for the walk after seeing a documentary on a woman who walked 2,500 miles for world peace. “I thought it was a good idea and a way to raise awareness of homeless youth.”
Laurie said what Zach has done didn’t really hit her until someone asked her to sit down and write out all his accomplishments. That’s when the realization hit her that he’s accomplished so much.
While some ask her if Zach wouldn’t be happier being at home, Laurie noted, “Some little boys like to play baseball, some little boys like to play football. He likes to do charity work.”
She points out when he’s not involved in a project he becomes a typical boy. She noted, “He’s totally obsessed with (Ford) Mustangs right now, he loves them, that’s all I hear about as we’re walking down the road. He loves them.”
Speaking of his ongoing trek to Washington Zach said, “It’s a lot of hard work but it’s a lot of fun.”
To learn more about Zach you can visit his non-profit foundation’s web site at www.LittleRedWagonFoundation.com.
lruss@hometown-news.com
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