To encourage people to donate shoes, Rick Hagans once walked across Alabama barefoot; people donated 60,000 pairs of shoes that first year. Now, 27 years later, Hagans estimates that he’s walked 12,000 miles around the country and raised over one million pairs of shoes for people who needed them.
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He planned to walk across California. It would have been the 38th state that Rick Hagans, the Walking Preacher, would have walked across.
When his wife injured her hand in Colorado, the plan changed. Instead of walking under the Golden State’s sunny skies, he decided to instead check out Wyoming’s cold and windy fall. He wasn’t totally prepared for Wyoming’s weather, but the detour has been like so many tales from his previous journeys. The preacher has put his faith in God to put him where he needs to be, and the people he’s helped along the way are testament to that.
A visit to a dump 27 years ago, after all, is what started his walks. Hagans had brought Christmas presents to the people living in the squalor, and one of the boys asked if he could trade his toys for a pair of shoes. The preacher didn’t have any shoes to give the boy, but told him that he’d come back and bring him a pair in the summer.
To help the boy, and others, the preacher asked his congregation if they’d give him a pair of shoes for every mile he walked across Alabama.
They agreed, and walking became even more important to Hagans.
Hagans broke his back when he was playing football in high school and was paralyzed for six months.
“When I came out and I could walk, walking was sacred to me,” Hagans said.
To encourage people to donate shoes, Hagans walked across Alabama barefoot; people donated 60,000 pairs of shoes that first year.
Now, 27 years later, Hagans estimates that he’s walked 12,000 miles around the country and raised over one million pairs of shoes for people who needed them.
“I could never do that on my own,” Hagans said. “I’ll probably never even make a million dollars in my life.”
This year’s walk is partially dedicated to people in Houston affected by Hurricane Harvey. Hagans said he’ll give the first 1,000 pairs he raises to people in Houston.
Hagans has slowed down over the years. He said this has been his most painful walk because of his knees. On this trip, he’s only been hiking about 2 miles an hour. “I hike like a turtle, “ Hagans said. “These are tougher miles, but there’s also so many things to look at.”
Hagans started his Wyoming journey at the Flaming Gorge near Utah and has been working his way up U.S. Highway 191. On Wednesday, Oct. 4, after 17 days of hiking, Hagans passed through Pinedale and walked up to Fremont Lake.
“Wyoming has the nicest people I’ve ever met walking,” Hagans said.
He said he walks about 10 to 15 miles a day now and then hitchhikes back to his car. His plan is to walk on Highway 191 all the way to Montana.
Next year he plans to walk across the desert states: Utah, Arizona and Nevada.
If people want to take a step and help Hagans, they can visit harvestevangelism.org. Hagans, however, said that he encourages people to keep their donations local and find their own path to help others.
“Your step might be to walk down the road to help someone whose cars has broken down,” Hagans said. “For students, it might be to walk across the lunchroom and sit next to a new kid. Everyone can take a step.”
