As the summer winds down and the new academic year approaches, most students spend their time planning for classes or fitting in some last minute seasonal activities they enjoy; for a group of Saint A’s students, the end of summer 2017 was an entirely a different story.

The Road for Hope is an annual pilgrimage hosted by the Office of Campus Ministry, and Saint A’s students who are willing to take the long trek for the cause participate in the long journey. Beginning in Lewiston, Maine, and arriving at the St. A’s campus in Manchester, New Hamphire, students walk entirely on foot for the eight day, 130-mile journey.

This year, 46 students partook in the walk from Maine to New Hampshire. Starting out from Lewiston on Saturday, Aug. 19, the students stopped in: Gray, Standish, Waterboro, Sanford, then crossed the border of New Hampshire into Rochester, then Northwood, Candia, and finally arrived in Manchester on Aug. 26.

The Road for Hope has been a pilgrimage of tradition and charity for Saint Anselm College for 19 years. Its mission statement explains its essential purpose: “The Road for hope is based on the idea that by simply walking through the countryside we can change the world for the better. The Road for hope seeks to provide funds for those in need, strengthen the bonds in our communities, and rekindle the belief that every footstep makes a difference.”

While the Road for Hope is widely recognized at the college today, it had humble beginnings. In 1998, St. A’s alumnus Seamus Griesbach decided he would walk from his Maine hometown to Manchester to begin his freshman year at Saint Anselm College. The following year, Griesbach recruited over 30 friends to join him on his walk and raise funds for small social service organizations in Maine and New Hampshire. The pilgrimage was subsequently instituted as an annual Campus Ministry tradition.

The core mission of the Road for Hope is to raise funds for New England charities. This year alone the 46 students raised over $24,000 for nine New England charities, including the St. Charles Children’s Home of Rochester, NH, the Good Shepherd Food Bank of Auburn, ME, and Upreach Therapeutic Riding Center of Goffstown, NH.

While raising donations for charity is the core of Road for Hope’s mission, those who have participated find it holds far deeper spiritual and intrinsic value. Student and Road for Hope participant Griffin Fraser ’18 explains how the 130 journey “taught me about strength, resiliency, community, charity, fear, and above all, hope. Walking alongside 45 others each day showed me how much we are all capable of.”

Participant Emily Pierce ’19, when asked why she chose to walk, explains “I walk because between the blisters and sweat, the laughter and the tears, the formation of friendships and memories, there is a transformation that occurs. Suddenly, you realize that values like community, optimism, and service to others will outlast even the peskiest of blisters.”