The children had held a walk-a-thon last fall to raise money for an Christmas event at their school but chose at the time to donate any proceeds above and beyond the cost of the event to Ric Ryan - known as the Walking Man of Murphys - for Operation Mend. Many of the children at the school felt as if they knew Ric saying "I wave to him every day."
After the principle, Larry Smith, pinned the check to Ric's chest, the whole student body took a celebratory lap around the track with Ric.
Ric has been walking the roads of Calaveras for the past few years in an effort to raise funds for Operation Mend - a joint Brown Medical Center and UCLA venture that repairs war torn veterans. From plastic surgery to prosthetics, at no cost to the veteran or their family. Each wave he receives he puts a quarter of his own money in a jar at home. When it adds up he sends a check to Operation Mend. As soon as word got out what Ric was trying to do he found that people would stop on the side of the road, thank him and make donations from $1 to over $100 dollars. Every penny goes to Operation Mend.
To date Ric has walked 4685 miles and raised over $16,000. He has had the opportunity to visit the facility and meet with the wounded vets. As a Vietnam Veteran, this experience was moving and left Ric near to tears. After the visit he vowed to work even harder for the wounded vets and has reached out to the public more.
Two years ago Ric was invited to be a chaperone with the 7th and 8th grade class at Christian Family Learning Center on a trip to Washington DC. A memory he will never forget. He was able to visit the Vietnam Wall with the children and helped to put the wall in perspective for them. Remembering that day Ric shook his head and said, "There are people on that wall that were with me...they gave it all."
Ric hopes with the communitys help and more information put out the the pblic that he will be able to continue to help Operation Mend in their mission to help wounded veterans.
If you would like to contact Ric please email him at rlr1970@hotmail.com
For more pictures CLICK HERE
by,
Charity Maness