Ten Years Later, Annual Road for Hope Looks to Top $200,000

Thirty seven Saint Anselm College students are taking the scenic route back to campus this fall — and with very good reason. Starting in Lewiston, Maine, on Saturday morning, August 22, and finishing outside Saint Anselm’s stone face a week later, they are walking the 10th annual, 130-mile Road for Hope.

Pledges for this year’s walk could put the program over $200,000 to benefit Maine and New Hampshire charities. Walk organizer and campus minister Father Bernard Disco, O.S.B., expects approximately $18,500 in pledges this year.

Walkers carry 40-pound backpacks of gear, camping in parks and church basements along the way. Emergency medical technicians from the student Rescue Team accompany the group with a van of medical supplies and water — just in case.

“The blisters, pain, and exhaustion are all for a great cause,” student leader, Stefanie Iannalfo '10, says.

Along the way, they are reminded of the services that the walk supports.  The route passes several of the supported charities, including Birthline of Portland, Maine; Community Concepts and Good Shepherd Food Bank of Auburn, Maine; Sanford Parent Resource Center of Springvale, Maine; Rochester Recreation Arena and Youth Services of Rochester, N.H.; Kid's Café of Manchester, N.H.; and Upreach of Goffstown, N.H.

Highlights of the trip include being greeted by children outside St. Charles Children’s Home in Rochester, N.H., and an overnight in the Henry W. Moore School in Candia, N.H.

“It is something the children very much look forward to,” Mother Paul Marie of St. Charles said.  “Its one of the highlights of our year.”

The route is similar to the one first charted by Saint Anselm alumnus Seamus Greisbach, who made the hike to his freshman orientation with his younger brother and Black Labrador retriever. His 1998 walk from Lisbon Falls, Maine in 1998 inspired 30 students to join him the next year and collect pledges for charities along the way.

“Road for Hope has shown me that even in our age of zipping around and immediate gratification, there is still hunger in the human heart for a slow walk,” Fr. Seamus says, now an ordained priest in Bangor, Maine.

The Saint Anselm College blog will continue to cover the 10th annual Road for Hope, including the visit to St. Charles Children’s Home and their arrival back to campus.

View Saint Anselm Road for Hope in a larger map