成人X站

SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Goat across America: How this man is raising money for charity

Aug 11, 2016, 6:48 AM | Updated: 6:48 am

goat...

Steven Wescott is walking with his goat Miles from the Space Needle to Times Square. (Courtesy of Steven Wescott)

(Courtesy of Steven Wescott)

You’ve probably heard of people trekking across the United States before. Well, this is another story — one with a twist named Miles … a goat.

Steven Wescott is doing his walk with a goat.

His journey began in 2012 after his band kicked him out. He decided he wanted to take a break from being a professional musician to walk the 3,600 miles from the Seattle Space Needle to Times Square in New York City.

A goat with a purpose

But Steven wanted there to be a purpose to his walk. At the time his best friend was serving as a missionary in Nairobi, Kenya working with drug addicts and the children orphaned because of the drug epidemic.

Steven decided his goal would be to raise $100,000 to help his friend make the orphanage self-sufficient with farm animals, a well, and other infrastructure. The walk is a method to do that. The goat was a good way to draw attention to it. Along his journey, he has drawn attention to the cause and encouraged people to donate money to it.

He got his first goat from a rescue organization in Arlington and off they went. In the beginning, they spent most nights camping. As they began to get noticed by the media, more and more often they would be invited to stay in someone’s home.

Having so much time alone on the road gave Steven tons of time to analyze his personality, his actions, and his mistakes.

“Many times on the side of the road, I’ve been calling ex-girlfriends like, ‘Yeah that was my fault. I’m sorry,'” Steven recalled.

Destination known

It’s been four years, and Steven is finally in Maryland just 219 miles from his final destination.

Why so long?

Steven takes the winters off because Miles wouldn’t be able to graze. The breaks also gave Steven time to work a little and raise money for his expenses. And he makes time to do volunteer work in nearly every city he passes through.

There are already people wanting to write a book about Steven’s journey, make a documentary and possibly even a reality TV show. And of course, he’s got a blog.

At first, Steven only posted positive things about his trek. He quickly realized that was giving people a false sense of who he was. He didn’t want to be known as a perfect guy who was dedicating his life to orphans in Africa because that’s not the whole story.

“When you fall from that pedestal, the people that worship you end up crucifying you,” Steven said. “I don’t mind failing in public now. Then you don’t have a culture of worshipers, you have a culture of supporters. So when you make a mistake you have all this support lifting you back up.”

One of the hardships he faced is the loss of his first goat. Steven said someone along the way fed the goat something poisonous. After it passed away, he took some time off to decide whether he would move forward.

Eventually, Steven realized he didn’t want to let his friend down. He found Miles and kept on walking.

Although he’s now just 219 miles from Times Square, Steven doesn’t expect to reach his final destination until October. He has several community service projects and speaking engagements planned along the way.

But, that doesn’t matter. He’s already reached his $100,000 goal and the well at the orphanage is already going in.

Associated Press

New charges brought against real estate brothers in sex trafficking case

NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Additional sex trafficking charges were brought Thursday in a New York court against two luxury real estate brokers and their brother. The charges were contained in a rewritten indictment filed by federal prosecutors against Oren Alexander, Tal Alexander and Alon Alexander. The three brothers are being held without bail in a […]

4 minutes ago

Associated Press

Nearly 60 cases dismissed due to corruption in Alabama police department

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) 鈥 Nearly 60 felony cases will be dropped in a small Alabama town because they were compromised by what a grand jury called a 鈥渞ampant culture of corruption” in the local police department, according to a statement on Wednesday. The grand jury determined that 58 felony criminal cases had been tainted by […]

9 minutes ago

A United Airlines jetliner prepares to push off from a gate at Denver International Airport Wednesd...

Associated Press

Officials plan to revamp the US air traffic control system. Here’s a breakdown by the numbers

The Trump administration on Thursday announced an ambitious three-year plan to replace the United State’s aging air traffic control system. Officials did not provide an exact cost estimate but said it would require billions of dollars to put in place. They said a $12.5 billion budget proposal that a House committee drafted last week represents […]

11 minutes ago

UW protest (1) uw students...

James Lynch

Demonstrators protest arrest, suspension of UW students following violent rally

More than 100 demonstrators gathered at the University of Washington on Thursday afternoon. They rallied in front of Gerberding Hall.

13 minutes ago

First lady Melania Trump, seated left, and Dorothy Bush Koch look on after unveiling a U.S. Postal ...

Associated Press

Melania Trump hosts White House event commemorating Barbara Bush stamp

WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 In the White House’s East Room on a rainy Thursday, first lady Melania Trump and members of the Bush family gathered to unveil a U.S postage stamp bearing the portrait of former first lady Barbara Bush. Amid the anticipation of the unveiling, Trump, Bush鈥檚 daughter Dorothy 鈥淒oro鈥 Bush Koch and Judy de […]

21 minutes ago

U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Marino Cabrera gives a press conference in Panama City, Thursday, M...

Associated Press

Panama president says he will not renegotiate security deal with US, despite protests

PANAMA CITY (AP) 鈥 Panama President Jos茅 Ra煤l Mulino said Thursday that he will not renegotiate an agreement with the United States to give U.S. troops access to Panamanian facilities, despite protests charging that he compromised the country鈥檚 sovereignty. On Tuesday, thousands of Panamanians marched in the capital in the largest protest yet against an […]

23 minutes ago

Goat across America: How this man is raising money for charity