Knoxville woman walks across country for 9/11 charity

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - She started walking because of a personal goal, then she kept walking for a cause she believes in.

Jan Walker is walking across the country for the September 11 National Memorial Trail Alliance. Walker is from the Knoxville area and has family in Lenoir City. Passing through the city shows she's made significant progress on her cross-country journey.

Walker began on March 1 in Oceanside, California, and she is headed to the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia. Her goal is to raise funds for the 1,100 mile hiking trail between the different sites affected during the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001. That planned trail runs between all three memorials to 9/11 in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

We asked Walker how her journey has been so far and she answered, "The traffic you have to be hypervigilant about. But other than that, it's been really great."

Walker saved her own personal funds to pay her expenses along the walk. Any monetary donations she receives she sets aside for the September 11th National Memorial Trail. She says people have shown kindness in helping with comforts along the way.

"I've had people who don't know me or anything, they've come up and helped me with either food or shelter or water, or just with encouragement, all along the way."

Learn more about her journey and its connection to the memorial fund at 911trail.org.