Service to our great country runs in the Bryan blood.
Zach Bryan, who served 8 years in the U.S. Navy himself, is also the son and grandson of Navy veterans. His his late mother DeAnn, father Dewayne, and grandpa were all in the Navy. Zach was actually born in Japan while his family was deployed overseas.
And now, his dad is finding other ways to serve his community. He just walked 60 miles from Claremore to his hometown of Copan, Oklahoma, to raise money for a teacher, Megan Ursey, who has cancer.
He started at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning and finished Friday night, and according to News6, says it went pretty smoothly:
“The walk, the talk, the people, the waving, everybody’s that’s been waving, the honking, that’s been great.”
He was inspired to start this trek after hearing Megan’s story and, more specifically, learning that she was a special education teacher in Texas:
“I just heard about her complications with medical expenses associated with cancer and she’s one person out of the hundreds and thousands that have to deal with the turmoil of cancer, and just decided I can do something about that.”
Dewayne also decided that he wanted to donate part of the money he raised to his hometown school’s special ed program.
Jerry Werts, the Principal of Copan High School who also joined Dewayne for part of the walk, says it’s just who he is:
“Public schools are always looking for money, needing money every which way we can, and him calling us and wanting to donate half of this to the school is just perfect.
[He] likes to do things for people in the community, and in this case out of state even, this lady’s from Texas. He’s got a big heart and we need more of that.”
Yes, we certainly need a lot more of that.
It’s refreshing and humbling to see someone like him go out of their way to help a complete stranger while also giving back to his local community. It’s a great reminder that we all have the capacity to do something for others, even when it seems so small or even impossible. We all have the ability to impact someone’s life in a positive way.
And, knowing he’s a veteran who has already willingly put his life on the line in order to protect all of us here in America and our freedoms at home makes it all the more inspiring.
Of course, Zach was happy to share the details of his dad’s endeavor and asked fans to send words of encouragement to him as he finished his walk last night.
As we like to say in the south, Zach comes from good stock. Hearing a story like this about his dad makes it easy to see where he gets his selfless drive to help others:
“Hey guys my dad is walking 55 miles in support of Cancer survivors and special education and he’s taking donations every mile, i’d never ask for money but if there’s anyway y’all could send him some words of encouragement, he’s on mile 44 and there’s ten left.”
He also shared this photo with the proud caption:
“This dudes really out here doing this.”
Though Dewayne finished his walk yesterday, he has a BBQ fundraiser today to continue to his efforts in bringing awareness to two amazing causes. What a guy… it does the heart a lot of good to read stories like this.
Even though Zach’s a classy guy who won’t ask his fans to donate money, if you feel so inclined to donate to Megan for her cancer treatment or to Copan High School’s special ed program, you can do so by calling (918) 740-3433 or emailing [email protected].
Oh, and while you’re here, don’t forget tickets are on sale now for Zach’s Ain’t For Tamin’ tour.
I can’t WAIT to see this one live again:
