Between January 1st and February 14th, Lynn Hamby, a powerful food advocate for people in Murphy, NC, set out to walk two hundred miles, while raising funds for hunger relief. Alongside her daughter, Bethany, Lynn not only completed her challenge, but also raised $1,500 in the process!
As an employee at Hiwassee Dam Senior Center, Lynn has been assisting in hosting MANNA Community Markets for over a year. According to Lynn, “there is a real need for the program in our area and it is a blessing to our community.”
During these distributions, Lynn had the opportunity to get to know Keeka Grant-Tomlinson, MANNA’s former MANNA Community Market Driver. After hearing of Keeka’s upcoming Appalachian Trail thru-hike fundraiser, Hiking for Hunger, Lynn challenged herself to set a goal and hike each day.
That goal? Two hundred miles from the first day of 2021 to Valentines Day!
Throughout the month and a half, Lynn and her daughter walked at least five miles each day – rain or shine. By the end of their challenge, the two of them had completed the two hundred miles a couple of days short of their goal date.
Thanks to donations and a matching gift from Modern Woodmen, Lynn and Bethany raised $1,500 in support of food insecure families throughout Western North Carolina!