$50.00

Thank you Raf!!

I turned beet red

I muttered "awe shucks"

Because you donated

Fifty bucks!

This poem is a little corny but its my favorite so far.  Thank you Raf you are a fine gentlemen and I can't wait to see you soon buddy.

$20.00

Thank you Daniel for your support!

And now...a poem..sort of...

D-Dangerous

A- Able

N- Noble

I- Innovative

E- Excellent at calculator games

L- Loving like a big teddy bear

I thought this was the best way to thank you good sir for you contribution.  Thank you.

$10.00

Thank you Katie Elliot for not only donating but also for spreading the word to Barton College.  

Webster Struthers I am still waiting to hear from you and I want you to know I miss your teachings and Wild Turkey.

$20.00

To thank Kevin Brosseau for his contribution I decided to share with the world the best picture I have of Kevin Brosseau.  

Please enjoy.

What motivated me today

Here is a letter I received today.

Dear Kelly,

I have been moved by your project to do my part to help pass on your plea for help.  I have so far contacted 130 people and printed up several flyers to pass around to my hometown of Southport, NC, McMinnville, OR and Suffolk, VA.  I got my best friend Leigh Stroud in on this project as well and have been posting bullitens on Myspace.com and facebook.com.  I hope that this helps you along.  I am very excited to see how this comes along.  This is a real life Pay-It-Forward type of moment and I am proud to be helping to do my par tin it.

Sin Cerra,

Christy Tu Conley

That is Rock and Roll motivation for me.  Thank you Christy.

Trey Andrews joins the Lynn Crew!

Oh man, the team from Lynn just got stronger.  Now not only do they have someone who biked across America..twice, and a guy who has traveled all around the globe, but now their third is none other than Trey Andrews.  

All I will say about Trey Andrews right now is that Trey builds houses in Africa in his spare time. He is pretty much amazing.  

Trey we are all glad you are able to join us on this journey!

Look for Trey's bio on www.theroadtolebanon.com later today.

$25.00

As the birds outside chirp,

I sit and rejoice

For I got a donation

From the man Ryan Boyce

Thank you good sir for your support.

Melelo Earrings For Sale Now!

My wonderful sister has been making beautiful homemade earrings for quite some time now.  Leigh is starting a company selling earrings called Melelo with two of her good friends. She decided to help out this project by selling her sweet, one of a kind, totally awesome earrings and donating the profit to the film. What a super sister I have.

 

If you are interested in seeing some of her earrings or making a purchase please email Leigh at lls4085@gmail.com  She also makes custom earrings to match your favorite dress!

And now...a letter to Ellen Degeneres

Dear Ellen,

I hope your having a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,
Kelly James Stracke

p.s. I have been practicing my moves.

$60.00

Thank you Ryan Elvin for your support!  

Ryan and I have been on a few road trips together, mostly down to Wilmington when we were both in school at Barton.  Ryan is a heck of a golfer and a heck of a guy.  

Thank you good sir and I hope life is going great down in Myrtle Beach.

$2,500

Now we are moving and shaking! 

Chris Allen's uncle Stefan Keller just donated a whopping $2,500! I can't thank you and everyone enough for showing their support! This has been such a great experience for me so far and I can only imagine the excitement as we get closer to July 28th.  

Thank you again Stefan for helping making this project possible.

$50.00

So I was checking my mail this morning and to my surprise, I received this delightful poem from my aunt.

Roses are red

Stop signs are too

This $50 check 

Is especially for you.

This poem made me realize that I need to step my game up when it comes to rhyming.  Thanks for your support and the wonderful poem Auntie!

$15.00

A haiku for you

Thank you Shannon P

I won't forget this when you

Run for president.

Now that Hillary is out, Shannon is a shoe-in to be the first female president. Unfortunately she has to wait until she's 35. Silly rules.

$10.00

Thank you for your support Terri Leeman!

Roses are red
I have a lot of Hair-o
Thank you dear Terri
For all the dinero

(I'm getting better, getting better..)

$25.00

Roses are red

Green and yellow are ducks

Thank you JoAnn

For the 25 bucks!

(My poetry will get better with time I promise)

And now..a letter to Ellen DeGeneres

Dear Ellen,

From watching your show, I have come to notice that you enjoy dancing.  I too enjoy cutting a rug from time to time.  I just wanted to write you this letter to let you know I would absolutely love to dance with you on your show.  

Here is my email address: kelly.stracke@gmail.com

I hope you're having a wonderful summer and I will talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

Kelly James Stracke

Amazing Story

Recently I placed an ad on Craigslist looking for people who would like to tell their hitchhiking stories.  Here is a one of the stories I got.  This woman sent me five stories; three of which were happy and two which weren't so much.  It was one of her bad experiences which captivated me.  

"Picked up by a guy that seemed nice, I was on my way into town to interview for a waitress job.  He informed me that he shot his wife...I didn't know how to reply at first so I just looked around the truck and noticed the camper shell had bullet holes in it.  I said to the man, "the b@#$% must have really deserved it, huh?" He laughed and I said in a few more seconds "oh hey here we are this is where I am going." I got out of the truck and he didn't drive off.  I walked up to a house and knocked.  A person came and I said to them that I was being followed and just needed to pretend they were my friend so this guy would leave.  The older lady was kind enough to hug me like we were old friends.  He drove off and I thanked the woman  I walked the rest of the way to the restaurant, where I arrived soaked in sweat and actually got the job." 

Even though she had some bad experiences she ended her letter to me by saying that she still has faith in people and that now she is the one picking up hitchhikers!

$75.00

I love my group and if I could have another partner in crime for this journey, I would have chosen my good friend Jon Cathcart.  Unfortunately, Jon is a hardworking man.  Of all people I know, I have hitchhiked with him the most.  Whether it be Myrtle Beach or Wilmington's Beer Festival, it was his persuasive thumb that would get drivers to pull their cars over and pick us up.  I wish you could be joining us on July 28th.  Thank you good sir. 

$10.01

Yes ladies and gents, our first official donation via the website comes from none other than Nicholas Crane.  Thank you good sir.  I can only assume that you chose this amount because you want to make sure we had a penny for good luck.  I hope you donated lincoln side up.

 

Thank you Alexis Rollins!

For being so kind as to offer us your hospitality on the night before our journey begins.  Alexis has opened her doors to the crew departing from Lynn, Mass. and is allowing for them to spend the night in her casa.  Alexis you are wonderful and I hope you will show the Lynn crew your amazing in the club dancing moves.

This Saturday..

...a group of us are going to head down to DCI Biologicals, Inc. to donate plasma.  This will be a great and interesting way to give something back while raising money for the project.  If you wish to join us, we are going to be carpooling from the UNC-W Library at 8am.  Send me an email at contact@theroadtolebanon.com if would like to join us or set up a different time to go.  Over and out.