Mike's Walk Across America
Hi, and welcome.
My name is Mike Shaw, I have been a successful insurance broker for over 35 years.In January this year I decided to devote 2 years of my life to raising money for the amazing Make-A-Wish kids. I hope you will support my efforts. Why would I do this? You will find my"WHY"in my story below.
My story:The Long Walk to Redemption !
I have this crazy idea to walk from my home in Dana Point, California to New York .The duration of this adventure will last between 8 and 9 months and I will walk about 3,000 miles to raise $100,000 for the children of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County and the Inland Empire.
My story started in September 2010 when I attended the annual convention of a company I work with in Salt Lake City,Utah .On the final afternoon of the convention the founder brought two families on to the stage. Both families had brought young children;both children had life-threatening medical conditions. Both children were Make-A-Wish Foundation wish recipients.One of the children was a young girl of around 8 years of age who had a tumor on the base of her skull.Her wish was to take her family on a Disney cruise.The other child was a young boy of 5 years of age who as I recall had a inoperable tumor on his spine. His wish was to be a "Super Hero." The company had a "Super Hero" costume made to measure for him. His "Super Hero" name was "Happy Man" butI nick named him"Captain Happy!" When asked if he had anything to say to the crowd, he raised his hands towards the audience and shouted, "I ZAP YOU ALL HAPPY!"
The effect this little boy had on everyone in the room was instant and extremely powerful, and for me personally it was also a very moving experience. I had tears running down my face as did most of the crowd. However just in that afternoon, the distributors raised over $20,000 to make sure the wishes of these fantastic children would see their wishes granted.The next day I left to go home,however the images of the previous afternoon will stay with me forever.
My story started in September 2010 when I attended the annual convention of a company I work with in Salt Lake City,Utah .On the final afternoon of the convention the founder brought two families on to the stage. Both families had brought young children;both children had life-threatening medical conditions. Both children were Make-A-Wish Foundation wish recipients.One of the children was a young girl of around 8 years of age who had a tumor on the base of her skull.Her wish was to take her family on a Disney cruise.The other child was a young boy of 5 years of age who as I recall had a inoperable tumor on his spine. His wish was to be a "Super Hero." The company had a "Super Hero" costume made to measure for him. His "Super Hero" name was "Happy Man" butI nick named him"Captain Happy!" When asked if he had anything to say to the crowd, he raised his hands towards the audience and shouted, "I ZAP YOU ALL HAPPY!"
The effect this little boy had on everyone in the room was instant and extremely powerful, and for me personally it was also a very moving experience. I had tears running down my face as did most of the crowd. However just in that afternoon, the distributors raised over $20,000 to make sure the wishes of these fantastic children would see their wishes granted.The next day I left to go home,however the images of the previous afternoon will stay with me forever.
Fast forward to December 2010.Just before Christmas I flew to England to attend my best friend’s wife's funeral in England . Doug Roberts has been my best friend for over 30 years and we remain as close as brothers to this day. Doug is a good and compassionate man who sadly lost the love of his life Carole to cancer, after a 45 year love story.Carole was a succesful business woman, a wonderful wife to Doug, and I regarded her as a second sister to me.On the day of Carole's funeral I arrived early at the Church and I was amazed when eventually more than 200 people turned out for Carole's funeral.
As I stood in the freezing cold,drafty old Catholic church I experienced a powerful Epiphany! My own mortality was right before my eyes as Carole was only my age! At that point I experienced a flash back of the "colorful" but self centered way I had lived my life, at that moment it occurred to me that even on the most beautiful English spring day that on my eventual demise I would probably be the only one guaranteed to show up for my funeral! A sobering thought!
Carole was a beautiful selfless woman inside and out, a classic example of how one should live a fulfilled life. When Doug read the eulogy, it took him around 10 minutes to list the many exotic places that Carole had visited, she was also a great Mom to her 3 children and a wonderful and inspiring grand mother to her 5 grand children. In fact the funeral was really a celebration of her wonderful life.
What really made a powerful impact on me was that as much as I was grieving for the loss of "my sister" as much I loved Carole I could not help but think about Captain Happy! It seemed so terribly wrong to me that he might not have made it to this day?. He might not have had the chance to leave little more that his tiny foot print on this world! Possibly no children or grand children for him!
Since my return from England I have made my two year commitment to prepare for and complete my "Long Walk To Redemption." I work out at the gym virtually every day walking on average up to 15 miles a day 5 days a week in preparation for my walk.
I have also started to approach people and companies I know orhave done business with.Everyone I have spoken to initially react in a very positive way, but shortlyafter they ask how I will be able to accomplish this lofty goal? I will, after all, be 70 years old when I will be half way across the country! Although this task is huge, I’m really determined,excited and committed to the opportunity to help the many children of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I know I’ll be able to reach my goal because I have such a powerful andawesome"WHY"."When your why makes you cry, the how will take care of it's self!" Believe me, I am totally dedicatedto my walk"my why"makes me very, veryemotional, determined and fires my motivation!
With all this being said if you are anything like me I love to support a great cause but I hate to give to a cause if to much money is swallowed up in expenses.
My intent is to give 100% of the money I raise to help the kids. To that end I’d love your help in order to reach this goal by covering the expenses by way of donations of basic items I will need on the walk that will hopefully illiminate the basic expenses before I start my walk!
My intent is to give 100% of the money I raise to help the kids. To that end I’d love your help in order to reach this goal by covering the expenses by way of donations of basic items I will need on the walk that will hopefully illiminate the basic expenses before I start my walk!
As you will see above above my donations are lagging behind where I would like them to be.
I feel that is because people think that my walk does not start until March 2012 so there is no sense of urgency, however children are getting sick now, today, with life threatening medical conditions and they need our help now, today! Please donate whatever you can afford today!Whether you can afford a little or a lot, every penny counts.
I’m so grateful for your support. If you are able to help with items for my trip like (gas cards,grocery store cards, etc), I’d love to speak with you about this, you will find a list of donations and sponsors on my web site in my regular journal entries. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me atmikesgonewalking@aol.com or call me on
949-240-9113 or my cell at949-683-2662..
You can also check my progress on my web site at
Thank you so much!
Mike Shaw.
