Cross-country walk touts adoption, foster care

    Imagine 2,356 miles. That’s how far Glenn Koster had already walked when he stopped in Holyoke last Tuesday, July 3. That put him at right about 55 percent of the 4,286 miles he intends to walk. Why would he do such a thing? To raise awareness of adoption and foster care.
    His journey began Feb. 1 in Miami Beach, Florida, and is set to finish Oct. 13 in La Push, Washington. He’s joined on the trek by his wife and support, Charlcie. She drives the RV that they currently call home to each night’s stop.
    Koster walks seven hours a day, six days a week, resting on Sundays and holidays. When his eight-month trip is finished, he estimates he will have logged 9 million steps and seen 16 states and two different oceans along the way.
    While the feat of walking all the way across the United States is impressive on its own, Koster is quick to turn the attention to the purpose behind it. As he travels and tells his story, he also tells the story of children in need of foster care and adoption.
    “I have chosen this difficult route to cross the United States because the lives that foster children and adoptees live are among the most difficult lives one can imagine,” he said in his promotional material. As a child, Koster was abandoned, placed in foster care, adopted, abused, placed back into foster care and adopted again. Quite a lot for someone to go through by the age of 10.

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