Our Story
The Appalachian Trail extends 2100 miles from Georgia to Maine along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains…
“Thru hikers” endeavor to hike the entire trail in one hike which usually takes 5-6 months. Most thru hikers adopt trail names, so in 1991 “Stumpy” hopped on the AT in GA and started hiking north toward Maine. Stumpy was seeking adventure, a challenge and to find a purpose in his life.
During his 5 month journey, Stumpy discovered, as he never realized before, that happiness & fulfillment in life is derived not from selfish pursuits but from being of service to others, from helping others with their journeys in life.
After returning from the Appalachian Trail, “Stumpy” dedicated his life to serving others.
He became a Scout leader to hundreds of young men, mentored underserved youth, invested in education, and supported schools, churches, and community organizations. In 2018, he sponsored a young woman from Nairobi, Kenya, who graduated cum laude from Georgia State University with an accounting degree and now works at Microsoft. He later sponsored her sister, who is now pursuing a graduate degree at a university in Canada.
In 2024 and 2025, Stumpy traveled to Kenya and Uganda with a church contingent.
There he met bright, resilient, and ambitious children—many of them orphans—whose greatest obstacle was access to education. Seeing the same potential with the Kenyan young ladies he had previously sponsored in Kenya, he knew these students deserved the same chance... Stumpy’s Foundation was formed to give them that chance.