By Ashley Hughes
A Wimberley man’s 60th birthday will be spent during his 500-mile walk around the Camino de Santiago, an ancient Christian pilgrimage route in northern Spain.
Thomas Hall is preparing to take this walk of a lifetime to raise money for Food for the Poor’s mission to bring clean water for those in need. He is hoping to raise enough money to build water wells that could provide water to more than 8,000 people in Haiti.
“This has been on my mind a very long time since the ’90s, but I had to raise a family first,” Hall said.
His now grown children will be participating with him on this adventure. Three of his four children, twin sons Patrick and Conor, age 25, and daughter Maura, age 24, will be helping to ring in his birthday during the trek. His wife plans on joining them toward the end of the walk.
“I wanted to do something not for my own gratification, but for someone and something else,” Hall said.
This isn’t Hall’s first time participating in such an event. His father died of cancer when Hall was just 15 years old. During his grieving process, he and some friends went on a retreat to learn about a fundraiser sponsored by the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation and participated in a 26-mile walkathon the next year.
Hall has been training for this walk by going out on long walks during mornings before the heat of the day strikes. He sometimes carries his pack with 20 pounds of gear on him to get him accustomed to what his big walk will be like. Hall lives in River Mountain Ranch and can walk 15 miles without crossing major highways. He also swims laps at Blue Hole to keep his body in good physical condition.
“My colleagues and partners were very generous with me to give me what I call my maternity leave,” Hall said.
The Leo J. Dowd Foundation will match the first $5,000 Hall raises. The money Hall makes will be donated to Food For The Poor and two other charities. He hopes to raise $30,000.
“Frankly, I’m surprised I haven’t found anyone who has done this in this way,” Hall said. “To prove that I’m actually walking everywhere I have to get my little pilgrim’s passport stamped along the way.”
The pilgrim’s passport will be stamped each day at the hostel to verify to the Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago that the pilgrim walked the entire official route. The pilgrim must show the credential to the authorities at the end of the pilgrimage to obtain the certificate of completion.
To help Hall reach his fundraising visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/camino or http://pilgrimspurpose.weebly.com/
