To raise money for restaurant workers who had to stay at home during COVID, two brothers, Aiden and Louis Ardine, decided to walk 3,200 miles across America to raise money.
Having just arrived on the sands of the Pacific Ocean, Aiden and Louis Ardine have now completed their five-month walk which started on the Asbury Park boardwalk in New Jersey. They hoped to raise $30,000 for some charities (慈善组织) that were helping restaurant workers waiting for lockdown (隔离) to end, but ended up making $70,000 — which they gave way to the COCO Fund and the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation.
"This would not have been possible without the help of a huge community of people, whether people were donating or helping us guide our way across the United States." said Aiden Ardine. "This was surely an adventure full of hope, and it proved people are born good and want to help their neighbors."
Just like cross-country trips in this nation, their journey was characterized by amazing views, long roads, and helpful strangers: like a man who passed them in the extreme heat of summertime Iowa, before doubling back and giving them a cold Gatorade; or a Nevada campground manager who left them stay for free.
In Utah they had what the naturalist John Muir would have described as an "interview" with a black bear, when rounding a corner in the path, they found themselves within a few feet of it.
When they reached San Francisco, their supporters were waiting for them on the beach. Afterwards they flew home along with their mom who had been there to meet them. After their adventurous stay away from home, we can only imagine she was really feeling proud of her sons.
