Buckwheat is back! 7,080-mile walk/bike/paddle to raise money to buy medical equipment for clinic

[The Straight Story]

I am reading through all of Alaska's newspapers (Already did Alabama's....) and came across this in one of the papers. He got done with the walk back in August but just returned to their small town. Pretty amazing - and a damn shame he had to do it in the first place to buy medical equipment for the Skagway clinic.

Sept 8th - Skagway News Issue:
SKAGWAY - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recently donated a check for $1,000 to Tourism Director Buckwheat Donahue, as he was processing through the Skagway Port of Entry. Donahue had just completed a 7,000-mile trek on foot, by bicycle and canoe in an attempt to raise $250,000 in pledges to buy medical equipment for the Skagway clinic. Sofar, he has raised around $60,000.

Donahue’s journey from Miami, Florida to Nome, Alaska on foot, bicycle and canoe had ended with a walk from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada down the Klondike Highway and home to Skagway. It was a full 327-day journey that began on October 1, 2005.

Port Director Boyd Worley stated, “CBP officers at the Port of Skagway were so moved by Donahue’s efforts and courage that he inspired them to donate to the clinic, and they presented the check as a group effort upon his arrival. We wish him the best of luck in obtaining his goal.”

The Heartbeat Trail also received an anonymous $10,000 donation that was announced at the Presbyterian Church service after Buckwheat’s arrival, eliciting a howl from the biggest member of its congregation. Donahue is currently on a real (non-walking) vacation to his old stomping grounds of Colorado and is due back home in a couple weeks.







http://www.skagwaynews.com/