By John DeFore

Those of us who have had office coworkers hit us up for contributions to walk-a-thons promoting various charities will appreciate the modesty of Jordan Price and Carlie Roberts, who are asking strangers to contribute just a penny per mile on their current outing for Keep America Beautiful. Sure, they’re hiking over two thousand miles, but even so, that only amounts to twenty bucks and change.

The pair are trekking from Georgia to Maine along the Appalachian Trail and decided to turn their long vacation (which started in March and just hit the 500-mile mark) into a fundraiser.

According to a progress meter at the duo’s web page, they’re only four percent of the way toward their $150,000 goal for KAB — coming mostly so far, they say, from friends and family. “We knew we didn’t want to do it just for bragging rights,” Roberts told Georgia’s WDUN radio, so they chose to contribute to the education/volunteerism organization best known for old TV advertisements featuring a crying Native American.

The cause is surely in keeping with Price and Roberts’ scenic journey, even if the actual day-in, day-out effort is occupied more with physical endurance than spreading public awareness. On a chatty, feel-good blog, the hikers focus mostly on the kindness of fellow wanderers and the joys of a dry sleeping bag. With any luck, a few states down the road they’ll have drawn enough attention that free trail snacks are overshadowed by pennies, dimes and dollars for each of the miles they’ve endured.

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