11 year-old Zach Bonner arrived at the White House on Thursday after walking 1,225 miles over the course of 20 months from his home in Tampa, Fla., to raise awareness about homeless children. A movie about him and his community service foundation, Little Red Wagon, is scheduled to open in 2010.
How long did the walk take?
I walked from Tampa to Tallahassee in November of 2007 and Tallahassee to Atlanta from October 17 to November 17 of 2008. I left Atlanta on May 11 and got to D.C. on July 9. I walked between 11 and 13 hours a day.
Who walked with you?
My sister Kelley usually drove the car a few miles ahead and my mom and I walked, but sometimes they would switch. I’m the only one who walked the whole way.
What did you do along the way?
We started doing little mini projects with homeless kids in some of the towns that we went through. One time we took a bunch of kids out to Chuck E. Cheese. Another time we threw a Build-A-Bear party. We tried to do things that weren’t in the budget for the shelters.
What was your goal for the walk?
I wanted to raise as much awareness as possible about homeless youth. I started doing community service after Hurricane Charley hit [Florida in 2004] and have been doing different projects since then. I wanted to do this walk because people can actually see me doing it, and I thought it would send a big message to arrive at the White House.
So there is a movie being made about you?
It’s going to be a Hollywood-scripted movie with professional actors based on my life and philanthropy. The screenwriting team started out looking at over 300 foundations, and then they narrowed it down to 12 and then they chose me.
