A Volunteer's Life-Changing Road Trip Brings Him to Stamford

Keith Donahue set out from San Diego, California in his trusty Honda Element back in February with a lofty goal — he planned to travel to each of the fifty states, plus Washington DC, Mexico, and Canada, in order to devote time to a different non-profit, charity or worthy cause in each location.

Donahue was living outside of Washington DC and in the midst of a career change when he decided to take some time off from work in order to devote his time to volunteering.

"Then I thought, I'd like to travel, why not go around the country and work to increase volunteerism among twenty and thirty-somethings, while really putting some of these non-profits on the map," Donahue said.

Calling his mission 50 Give, Donahue spent around five months planning for his four-month trip. He worked multiple jobs to save up money, arranged to stay with family, friends, even strangers through coachsurfing.org, and researched non-profits where he would spend his days helping out in whatever ways he could. He chose a variety of organizations — mainly small community-based non-profits and many that reflect his interests in the environment, children, health research, and wellness issues.

On Thursday, Donahue's trip brought him to Stamford. He arrived at at 7:45 a.m. to begin a day of volunteering with . There, he spent the morning speaking with classes, shelving books in the library, and serving lunch. He then spent time teaching soccer clinics and interacting with students in Lion's Den, Trailblazers after-school program. Donahue was also planning to visit to teach soccer clinics later in the day.

In the cafeteria, Donahue first spoke with the students, telling them about his road trip. They then moved to the gym where Donahue led the students in a series of stretching exercises and soccer skills. The students laughed and followed along, even when stretches had them falling over, clicking their heels in the air or doing something akin to a horse's prance.

While there have been no shortage of rewarding experiences during Donahue's trip, some of the best moments have happened in-between his planned volunteer assignments.

"Staying with families, just sitting around the table talking about life — I've learned more in the past month than I have in 10 years... everyone wants to share their wisdom," Donahue said.

Since starting his journey, Donahue has watched gas prices quickly climb. He has been able to make ends meet due to donations from family and friends, even generous strangers he's met along the way. Despite any troubles, his outlook remains constantly sunny and he's hard-pressed to think of a single set-back he's encountered on his trip.

"It's all good to me," Donahue said. "There are times when you don't have much money, but you survive, you do with a little less."

Donahue's trip will wrap up in Vancouver in mid-June and after that, he faces a clean slate. He might like to return to San Diego where he spent time working immediately before his departure, but the rest is still a work in progress. Whatever comes next, however, it's clear that he will continue to draw on the lessons of his journey to inspire volunteers of all ages.

"When you do something like this, you have to make decisions, there's no time to procrastinate, you find out what you want," Donahue said. "Your heart just opens up."

Follow along on the rest of Donahue's journey by visiting his journal.