Father and son hikers over half-way to goal for Jimmy Fund

Aug. 7, 2019 | Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com

Ken Johnston and his son Andrew, both of Wilbraham, stand before the donor wall at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute prior to beginning their Appalachien Trail journey.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

WILBRAHAM – Andrew Johnston, was on top of Mt. Stratton in Vt. when he reached out to Reminder Publishing to answer questions about the 2,180-mile fundraising hike he and his father, Ken, were undertaking.

“I’m in a fire tower 125-feet up to get cell service,” the 26-year-old joked, adding his 62-year-old dad was a bit behind him today, but he expected to meet up with him when he climbed down.

The Wilbraham natives have been on the Appalachian Trail since March, with a goal of raising $21,800 – $10 for each mile hiked – for the Jimmy Fund at Boston’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute in memory of Ken’s mother, who died of brain cancer at age 51.

As of Aug. 5, they had raised $12,653 on their fundraising page: http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/johnstonjourney2180. Interested individuals can make contributions there.

Andrew said he didn’t know where his grandmother was treated for her cancer, but that his dad “felt a deep connection to Dana Farber” through his former boss, Jim Sadowsky, at Williams Distributing. Sadowsky served on the Board of Trustees at Dana Farber during the 35 years Ken worked for the beverage distributer and he “knew of the good work they do there, and the Jimmy Fund.”

In an email from the trail, Ken shared taking on the hike was his “next adventure” after retiring in 2017. Inspired by Bill Bryson’s book, “A Walk in the Woods,” Ken said he researched what it took to hike the Appalachian Trail, and once he discovered how physically and mentally tough the journey could be he “wanted to anchor myself with a cause that was bigger than myself, and a natural fit for me was Dana Farber. Having experienced the loss of my mother to a brain tumor at only 51, cancer research and treatment has been important to me. What Dana Farber does for children through the Jimmy Fund is beyond my capacity for understanding, but raising money through our hike felt like a way I could play a part in helping and inspiring the kids receiving treatment there.”

Andrew said he joined his dad on the trek at the urging of his mother – who was concerned about Ken hiking that distance alone – but that the six-month journey also came at a good time in his career.

“I regretted not doing something between high school and college, or after college [and my first job] and this seemed like the right time [to do it], said Andrew, who had just completed a three-year stint as an innovation and strategy consultant in Boston before joining the hike with his dad.  He said the two planned the hike “on and off” for about two years, and his dad – who had no long-distance hiking experience – spent a year training by hiking the “Seven Sisters” in Western Mass., but had never done an overnight on any trail before their first night camping on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.  Andrew said he had eight years of hiking experience, but only “a few overnight camping trips in VT. and N.H. and none more than three days, two nights.”

Andrew shared that the pair expects to reach the end of the Trail at the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine by mid-September.

The hikers will be sharing stories from their trek with Reminder Publishing over the next month, “whenever we get to a town,” Andrew said. For now you can follow their progress on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/johnstonjourney2180/, follow Ken on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ken.johnston.161009, and follow Andrew at www.facebook.com/andrew.johnston.94402343.

The hikers also host a YouTube video blog at https://www.instagram.com/johnstonjourney2180/

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