David Roth was written up in the Notre Dame Magazine. Read their article below or click here to read it on their site.
When you read this, David Roth '91 and Kevin Winton should be somewhere in Colorado. Either that or one or the other of them is injured or too sore to move or has come to his senses and decided a 3,091 mile walk across America was a stupid idea and their Route for the Brave project has ended early.
It's doubtful that last possibility will occur. When Indianapolis residents Roth, a police officer, and Winton, an 8th grade math teacher, set out on their walk from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to San Francisco on April 28, they focused not on the fearsome physical demands they faced but on the purpose of their trip.
"If the why is strong enough, the how will work itself out," Roth wrote in his blog.
The why-they-are-doing-this is straightforward: The duo is raising money to help veterans. Specifically, they are seeking donations for a project by Helping Hands for Freedom, a nonprofit that plans to build a retreat home for military families. The House of Healing will include living space for up to six military families who are in need of respite and offer counseling services for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Locations being considered for the center include sites in Kentucky, Arizona and Indiana.
Roth, chairman of the Phoenix-based Helping Hands for Freedom charity, has said he became interested in the fund-raising idea of a walk across the country when his stepson returned from a fifth military deployment. "To me it's not about the walking," Roth said on Indianapolis' Hammer and Nigel radio show in April, "it's about soldiers' families."
Follow Roth and Winton at Routeforthebrave.org.