When it comes to animal rescue efforts, volunteer Heather Kierstead likes to go the distance. On March 20th, Kierstead, a Winston-Salem resident, will team with a fellow volunteer, Stephen Dunn, in a three-week cross-country outreach campaign and half-year wilderness trek. The purpose is to raise money for and awareness of animal rescue. Their efforts will benefit Forsyth Humane Society, and Fur-Ever Friends in Winston Salem, and Best Friends Animal Society.

Kierstead and Dunn will set out on their cross-country trip March 20 from Forsyth County Animal Shelter, and complete the drive around April 12th in West Lake Village, Calif. They will raise money and awareness on behalf of homeless animals, coordinating and volunteering with youth organizations along the way. They have lined up to volunteer at homeless shelters in the major cities that they will be stopping at along the way

The main hub for information on tracking the pair’s progress across country and on the trail, and for making donations and pledges, will be through their organization’s Web site, http://www.blinklove.org/

Following the three-week campaign, Kierstead and Dunn will engage in a five- to six-month journey through the West Coast called the “Pacific Crest Trail.” The journey, which spans 2,663.5 miles from Mexico to Canada, will begin April 16 and end in September.

Kierstead has a long track record of volunteer service, especially with Forsyth Humane Society, where she first volunteered at age 14 and today, at 23, is the organization’s youngest board member, and is also a board member of Fur-Ever Friends of North Carolina. You may remember Heather back in 2007 when she hiked the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia and raised more than $18,000 for FHS.

Dunn shares Kierstead’s compassionate nature, having dedicated most of his young adulthood volunteering with such groups as Samaritan Ministries, AmeriCorps, and, most recently, Forsyth County Animal Shelter. On the latter experience, Dunn said that “time with the animals has been just as rewarding as time spent with people in need.”

Kierstead looks to the coming fundraising hike with enthusiasm and optimism. “If even one person becomes inspired to get involved with an animal shelter after hearing our story, then progress has been made,” she said.

Story from wxii.com

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