Father and son team to make 150-mile canoe trip for scleroderma research
By: Rebecca Weltmann
ALLENTOWN Waterproof bags? Check. Paddles? Check. The guts to make a 150-mile trek on the Delaware River from New York to Lambertville? Check.
Lakeview Drive resident Tim Hare and his 24-year-old son, Justin, have been planning their father-son canoe trip for the past several months. Back in February, Mr. Hare approached his wife and told her he was thinking of using the canoe trip to help raise money for the Scleroderma Foundation.
"My wife just kind of looked at me and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this,’" Mr. Hare said. "Apparently, my son approached her the day before with the same idea. So independently, we both came to the same conclusion that we could use our canoe trip to raise money for the Scleroderma Foundation."
Scleroderma Foundation is a non-profit organization that helps raise money to research and combat the chronic connective tissue disease classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases. It is not contagious, nor infectious, but at this time, the cause of and cure for the disease are still unknown.
In 1982, Mr. Hare’s mother died from the disease. The disease also claimed his sister in 1988.
Mr. Hare himself has the disease, though he said the localized version he suffers from is not nearly as dangerous as the internal systemic-sclerosis version that plagued his mother and sister.
So far, Mr. Hare said he has raised approximately $275 for the foundation. He is asking donors to commit at least 10 cents a mile. Since the trip which begins on the Delaware River in Skinners Falls, N.Y., and ends at Wells Falls in Lambertville is about 150 miles, he said he hopes people will be able to contribute a minimum of $15 a person.
The trip itself, he added, should take about 10 days, and he expects it to begin before sunrise on June 30. He and his son expect to canoe about eight to 10 hours a day, stopping for lunch and to set up camp at night. Already, Mr. Hare said he has been in touch with several campsites along the way to arrange for overnight accommodations.
"Justin and I have been doing practice runs on the Delaware," Mr. Hare said. "There are some areas along our trail that have some pretty good rapids, so we’ve been getting some experience with that. We’re basically going to be living on the river, though. We have dried food and all waterproof bags and small tents for each of us. We’re also going to be in some national park areas, so we’re going to do a couple nights on the wilderness sites, also."
Mr. Hare said that although he and his son have never attempted something like this before, he is excited. Justin echoed his father’s sentiments.
"We’re doing it for the foundation," he said. "It’s a hideous disease that my aunt and my grandmother died of. There’s not too much awareness of it, so any recognition of it or info we can get out there is great."
His father added, "You really don’t know what the disease is unless you have it or know someone with it. We really want to raise awareness.
Since Mr. Hare and his son will be financing their own trip, 100 percent of the money raised from donations will be given to the Scleroderma Foundation chapter in Cherry Hill.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.firstgiving.com/TimHare.

