A Walk for Others

A Walk for Others
An 11-year-old travels to Washington, D.C., to raise help for kids
By Joyce C. Tang
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1909865,00.html

Zach Bonner is "pretty tired," he says. Instead of going to camp this summer, Zach, 11, decided to walk 668 miles from Atlanta, Georgia, to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Why? Zach hopes to raise awareness about the plight of homeless kids. His journey to help others began two years ago. Zach walked from his home in Tampa, Florida, to Tallahassee. Then, in 2008, he did it again, this time walking from Tallahassee to Atlanta.
Since May, Zach has traveled 12 miles every day in his trusty Adidas shoes. Along the way, he has collected more than 1,000 letters about homeless children. He hopes to give the letters to President Barack Obama. Zach says he wants his walk to make a difference.
More than 1 million children in the United States live in shelters or on the streets. During his pilgrimage, Zach spent 24 hours with a group of homeless children so he could learn the difficulties they face.
On Thursday, Zach walked the last mile of his long journey. More than 500 supporters, including 300 homeless kids, joined Zach. They marched with him down the National Mall. "It was a long walk," Zach says, "but it was definitely worth it."
A History of Service
In 2005, Zach participated in an episode of the television show "Extreme Makeover Home Edition." He says that helping to build homes made him realize there were people who didn't have anywhere to live. That's when he decided that he wanted to help homeless youth. He was also inspired by a movie he saw about Mildred Norman, an activist who promoted world peace by walking 25,000 miles. Zach thought that walking would be a good way to draw attention to his cause.
Zach is also the founder of the Little Red Wagon Foundation. The purpose of the non-profit is to help needy youth. Through his group, Zach has raised money and donated school supplies. "A lot of homeless youth don't get the opportunity to succeed in school because they don't have supplies," he says.
Zach's volunteerism has even inspired a Hollywood movie based on his life. "He's the most extraordinary ordinary kid I've ever met," says Michael Guillen of the Philanthropy Project, who is making the movie. "He hasn't just talked the talk. He has literally and figuratively walked the walk."
As difficult and tiring as the journey was, Zach won't be trading in his walking shoes. "When homeless kids get tired of being homeless, they don't get to quit. So why should I quit when I get tired of walking?"
To find out more about Zach Bonner and his walk to the White House, visit zachtracker.com.


Max-I think Zach is a good person because of helping poor and homeless children. He donated money to the children that are poor and homeless to buy things, and even walking from his house to the white house to help children! I hope more and more people will join Zach and help children.

Training for a Marathon

August 6, 2009
Training for a Marathon
By Max
Running marathons will be very hard, and only healthy people can run to the marathons’ finish. But people even me can train running for many weeks to run a marathon.
I am not good at running, since I can’t run too fast or run too far without stopping. I would like to be Lin Yi-Chieh in advertisements, since he is good at running and can run very far, like running the Sahara desert, and other far places. But I can run faster and faster because of playing Counter Strike (or CS) with my friends. Like training for a marathon, bodywear and footwear is very important. You can wear clothes that are comfortable and can let your sweat evaporate. You can use running shoes to run a marathon, but you need to change it every 200 to 400 miles. Then, you need to train yourself running. You can start with 3 miles, and you can train to run farther and farther than 20 miles! Then you can eat healthy foods, sleep longer and practice running until the big day comes!