BGCCW’S Exciting Speaker For Casper Breakfast Is Awesome

When you're a country music artist, having a good story will work in your favor. If you have a rags-to-riches story, overcome tough times, work hard to achieve your dreams, and then struggle to make it, your time comes, and you succeed as a singer/songwriter. Then, you can share your story with the world so they can hear and inspire them to meet their goals and succeed.

When you think about true hard times, consider everything I mentioned above. Add being homeless, being a kid in the foster care system, working in a prison, moving to Nashville to become a big star, and make it...you've just described Jimmy Wayne.

It sounds like a story you would hear on an afterschool special, but it's near and dear to me. Jimmy Wayne has been my buddy since 2009. He was just about to embark on an incredible journey from Tennessee to Phoenix, Arizona. Jimmy wasn't on a plane, in a car, or riding a fancy tour bus.

He was on foot and decided to walk halfway across the country to inspire others to meet halfway in caring for teens about to age out of foster care.

Jimmy created Project Meet Me Halfway, a nonprofit that distributes 100% of all donations to needy organizations that care for foster, abused, and neglected children and children aging out of foster care.

Jimmy and I kept in touch for the entirety of his walk. Getting regular updates was important, not just for me but for everyone behind him. We were all cheering him on and spreading the word about his work.

The walk wasn't easy for Jimmy. Weather, injuries, and life were all factors he had to deal with. On top of that, he still had to work while he was on the road. So, when a job came up that he needed to attend, he would mark his position, catch a ride to an airport, and do his gig. Then, when his gig was over, he was right back on the road.

I suppose you're wondering why Nashville to Phoenix, it's 1700 miles and halfway across the country.

The campaign itself is about asking individuals and communities to meet me halfway to help these at risk youth.

It’s also about telling at risk youth that we want to help them but they have to at least meet us halfway. In other words, they have to work hard to help themselves in order to be helped.

Why am I telling you all of this?

He's an inspiration. He's still out on the road spreading the word and trying to ensure these kids are remembered.

Why would a country music star do something like that? Why would he care about foster kids aging out?

When he was growing up, he was in the foster care system. His goal of the walk was to raise awareness for the children in foster programs all over the US who would be released into the real world and, many times, right into homelessness. His mission is to help raise awareness and ensure those kids are cared for.

His mission isn't completed, as these kids are still being aged out and not cared for. In Wyoming, the age when a kid will age out is 18 unless a judge steps in before their 18th birthday to help them stay in the system until they're 21.

Jimmy wrote the book Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found The Way based on his life experiences. His life was tough, and it sure wasn't easy, but he overcame the battles and is still working to ensure that the stories of others are just as successful.

You can hear Jimmy's story firsthand on September 18th at the Boys & Girls Club of Central Wyoming's annual fundraising breakfast. This event is free, but it's encouraged that you reserve a table for yourself and/or your organization now before it fills up.

Not only will Jimmy tell his story, but the breakfast will also honor and celebrate Casper native Trudi Holthouse.

Trudi was raised in Casper by Susie and Mick McMurry, inheriting their passion for the values reflected in the Code of the West. Trudi works with her husband, Tyler Holthouse, to keep those values strong in her four children and two grandchildren. After leaving Casper to attend school, she followed in her mother’s footsteps as a teacher, but was called back to her hometown by the opportunity to raise her family near her parents and in the community that means so much to her.

As I said, the event is free, but you're encouraged to donate to the Boys & Girls Club of Central Wyoming to help the club, as this is one of the group's major fundraising events.

Come see Jimmy and hear his story; I promise you'll be inspired to help.