By DAVID A. MANN
David.Mann@newsandtribune.com
April 30, 2008 10:13 am
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JEFFERSONVILLE — A pink wig, pink glasses and a pink T-shirt.
Those are among devices Ron Kessler, a 39-year-old hiker from Colorado, is using to get your attention. But while his appearance may be comical, his cause is a serious one.
He left from Delaware on March 1 and was in Southern Indiana over the weekend as a part of a hike across the country to raise money and awareness for breast-cancer research. He’s covered about 960 miles of the trip so far.
Kessler decided to take up the cause when a close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She went through conventional treatment and it looked like it was in remission for a couple of years, he said. The situation took a turn for the worse last July, when it was diagnosed as being terminal.
“She’s still here, but everything is pretty uncertain for her,” Kessler said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been affected by someone that close to me having their life threatened at such a young age by an illness.”
Carrying a 25-pound pack on his back, Kessler is roughing it through most of his journey. On Thursday night, he slept in Charlestown under an awning next to an abandoned restaurant. Sometimes he’ll get a roof over his head, other times he camps.
He said the only time he got in trouble with the law was when he got kicked off of a highway that forbade pedestrians in Ohio.
“Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to be on it, even though there were absolutely no signs (indicating that),” he said.
Kessler is no stranger to cross-country travel. He’s biked across the country a couple of times and has twice hiked the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, a 2,175-mile greenway that goes from Maine to Georgia.
“I never did for a fundraiser for a cause though, just for fun. I decided it was time to do something for a reason,” he said.
He’s only been wearing the pink wig for about a week. And aside from one hateful slur, it has been helping the cause.
“It draws a lot of attention and that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said. “The sign fortunately explains a few things. People may be thinking other things when they see me in this get up.”
The level of awareness is hard to quantify, Kessler said. However, as of Friday, he had raised about $2,500 in donations, “via friends and family or via people just handing me money out here.”
He hopes to raise $100,000 before his trip is over. The fundraising aspect of the trip has improved quite a bit lately, he said.
“I’m still hopeful for that goal.”
He plans to finish the hike on Labor Day at Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San Francisco.
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