Cross-country trip aims to bring change
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - Matt Boelter threw his head back a bit and guffawed as he thought about how he almost took a cross-country trip with his best friend while they both were in high school.
They didn’t have a car or money to get anywhere — it was a harebrained idea, he would say, still smiling and shaking his head.
Now 22, Boelter is resurrecting that discarded idea of a countrywide excursion, trading a teenager’s pipe dream for a heartfelt, well-crafted plan to help others in need.
At about 5 a.m. May 1, Boelter will fly out to Yorktown, Virginia, where that same day he will begin a three-month journey — by bike — across the country to raise money and awareness for Syrian refugee children and the crises besetting their living conditions.
“I fully admit and acknowledge that this is drastic, but there needs to be those people in the world,” he said.
On the 4,225-mile trek to Astoria, Oregon, he plans to talk with people he meets along the way to catalog American perspectives of the refugee crisis and to advocate for acceptance of refugees in the U.S.
He also will use the trip as an opportunity to encourage others to take small steps in their daily lives to spin positive change.
“I think a lot of people don’t know where to start with making a positive change in the world, but being mindful and intentional of the way you live, it goes a long way,” he said.
Fund-raising goal
Another goal of Boelter’s is to raise $10,000 before and during his trip to benefit Save the Children, an international aid organization that, among its list of goodwill services to people in the Middle East, provides food and nutrition aid to Syrian children.
“I’ve had the idea in my mind to fundraise for Syrian people and refugees because I’ve been reading a lot in the news about the great suffering they are going through and experiencing with regard to food shortages,” he said.
Toward his goal in support of the organization — which appealed to Boelter because of its transparency and high percentage of expenditures going toward program services — Boelter has so far raised $755.
He will write about his experiences on his blog, ThoughtForFoodTour.com.
Boelter had fallen into the same trap that has plagued plenty of millennials who came before him: what to do after graduation.
He spoke with several friends from his alma mater, Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, who faced down the same questions of how to balance what they’re good at, what they want to do and how they can make money.
“We were having this conversation about how we felt a lot of times, especially at school, we were in this echo chamber speaking about all these issues,” he said. “It’s great we’re all aware of these issues, but what are we doing in our everyday lives to make the world a better place and try to solve some of these complex issues?”
His desire to help was compounded by health issues that could have claimed his mother’s life. It drove a mentality of self-reflection.
“Living a life guided by values or pursuing something greater than yourself is a great way to not only make positive change, but also live a life with as few regrets as possible,” he said.
A global citizen
Boelter, a biology major, is particularly moved by the global food shortage crisis and noted that since he started developing plans for the trip a few months ago, the United Nations announced that South Sudan and a few other countries in East Africa are experiencing one of the worst famines in history.
An estimated 20 million people in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria are at risk of starvation and famine, according move back home.
“It was so incredibly kind of him,” she said by phone, to which her husband replied that Boelter is one of the kindest people he’s ever met.
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