For myself, or others and myself?

I have been thinking for a few weeks now about hiking, self involvement and/or how to make my thru-hike attempt seem less selfish and more about helping others. Of course, one question might be, why do I think I need to make this hike about something other than myself? Isn't it enough to just have fun for 5-6 months, without making it about other people and their needs? Well, in theory yes. Yet I know from past personal experience that if I have committed to something other than myself, I am more likely to be able to push through tough times if I have committed to other people,  organizations, etc. And this has more to do with my own limitations than my selfless wish to help others. Of course, it isn't one thing or another. Both things are true and, like most folks, I am a bundle of contradictions.

Given all these ideas and musings,  I have decided to blend this hike with a wish to raise money for the City of Hope. Why the City of Hope? My friend in L.A. was recently dx with a very rare, nasty, aggressive kind of cervical cancer. Other than that really bad news, being an American and self employed, she also has no health insurance so she was looking at not being able to treat the cancer in any meaningful kind of way. Fortunately, she was accepted into a treatment program at the City of Hope, with no cost to her. This is an amazing and remarkable blessing in my friends life. To know she will have the best chance of living without the worry of losing her home and everything she has worked for all her life, is something I want to support. So, I hope to make some kind of plan to raise monies for this worthy organization. More information to follow.