For many, retirement means a chance to kick back a spell, maybe take up gardening or some idle hobby.
Kenny Mintz has taken a different approach.
Mintz, who retired last summer as a 30-year Army veteran, is roughly halfway through his “Kenny Walks Across America” campaign, a 3,000-mile, seven-month venture to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research, as well as two veterans charities.
Mintz and daughter Margaret, who drives a support vehicle for the 53-year-old retired colonel, stayed overnight Tuesday in Iola before heading back out Wednesday.
By Wednesday evening, and having covered his daily 20-mile goal, the Mintzes were in rural Woodson County.
Mintz crossed the 1,500-mile barrier on Monday — Independence Day — as he heads west from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to Swami’s Beach in Encinitas, Calif., on the northern edge of San Diego.
“The biggest thing for me is the walking and talking and getting out,” Mintz said while stopping in Iola for lunch Wednesday. “Walking and talking is part of the human condition, part of what we are as humans. We spend our lives sitting on our butts, in front of a computer or driving, and people are angry all the time.”
Walking changes that.
“When you get out there, everybody leaves happy,” Mintz said. “Even though they’re sore and tired and hot, they always leave happy.”
He’s raised roughly $26,000 through donations that started pouring in when his journey started April 1. He hopes to raise $45,000 combined for his three favored charities.
The first is the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, which his mother was involved with after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died two years ago.
“I started thinking about my mom’s journey, and when I retired from the Army, I wanted to do this walk. It was inspired by her.
“That, and I also wanted to do something cool after I retired, other than just going back and working for ‘the man.’”
THE OTHER two charities are targeted to helping veterans.
The Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund gives grants and scholarships to children of fallen service members.
Operation Resiliency organizes reunions and get-togethers for veterans who served together in combat.
“Veterans have all kinds of issues,” he noted. “We’ve got to take care of each other. They’re a catalyst for that.”
Mintz, who as a commander and infantry officer lost several soldiers along the way, is frequently accompanied by vets on his cross-country journey.
