Walk2gether fact sheet

Who: Bob Hentzen, 75, president and co-founder of Christian Foundation for Children and Aging

What: A nearly 8,000-mile walk from Guatemala to Chile, through 12 countries over 18 months. His goal is to get 8,000 kids sponsored to show the organization’s solidarity with children and families in need.

When: The walk began Dec. 29, 2009, and ended June 6, 2011.

Where: Beginning in Guatemala, Hentzen walked through El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile.

Why: "I walk in gratitude for all the poor have taught me. By walking with those living in poverty, we are saying, 'You are not alone,' " Hentzen said. "We are listening to you and learning from you."

About Walk2gether

Hentzen walked to shed light on families living in poverty and the benefits of child sponsorship. He spent time on Walk2gether with some of the 182,000 families CFCA serves in the countries he walked through. He listened and learned more about their lives, daily struggles and joys.

Currently, in his role as president of CFCA, Hentzen lives in Guatemala and travels three-fourths of the year visiting the families CFCA serves.

Hentzen is no stranger to the road. In 1996, he completed an eight-month walk covering more than 4,000 miles from CFCA’s international headquarters in Kansas City, Kan., to Guatemala.

Walking is a daily activity in the lives of CFCA’s sponsored members. They walk to school and work, and to collect water and firewood, often covering long distances over difficult terrain. By walking with them, Hentzen has said, "I will be more apt to be taken as an equal and a friend."

CFCA sponsorship emphasizes personal attention to sponsored members and their families. The staff often must travel on dangerous roads, trek up mountain paths, cross rivers and streams on foot, and walk in tough urban neighborhoods to reach the homes of the families.

Learn more about the walk

Walk2gether.org

Interview opportunities

To arrange an interview with Hetzen, please contact Carlos Casas at 913-384-7140 or press@cfcausa.org.

About CFCA

Christian Foundation for Children and Aging is an international movement serving people of all faiths in 23 developing countries. CFCA's Hope for a Family Program connects individual sponsors with a child, youth or elderly person in need of encouragement and support.

Hope for a Family sponsorship goes beyond the basics of providing food, education, health care and livelihood programs. It gives families hope that they can create a path out of poverty for their children.

Please visit www.hopeforafamily.org, or call (800) 875-6564 or (913) 384-6500 for more information.