Hello all! My name is Callahan. I'm 31 years old and I am thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2 months from Georgia to Maine. This is a 5-6 month hike that I have been slowly acquiring gear for for over the past year or so. Well I recently had something happen that was truly DEVASTATING. The majority of my gear along with some other possessions was stolen from my garage January 14th. Police have been contacted and they have not been much help. I am not and will not back out of this trip. I have already made arrangements to leave my job, family, dogs and my entire life behind to fulfill this dream. I have never been a beggar or one for handouts and it was extremely difficult doing this. That being said, I am asking for donations in the form of gear or money. The gear that was stolen was valued at around $1300 and I do not have the means to replace it this close to my hike. I refuse to let a thief strip this dream from me. If you can help in ANY way it would be greatly appreciated and definitely paid forward. Thank you for taking the time to read. Happy trails!

I agree with Robert. Also, you may want to approach some companies (e.g., REI) to see if they'll sponsor you. You may need to make a pitch to them, but they have deeper wallets than individuals and may have some marketing funds for things like this. Good luck!