Baseball Player, Business Major Garret Roberts Helps Raise Over $8K in Six Days
Image by Ed Brennen
UML sophomore Garret Roberts, third from right, and friends walk the homestretch of their "Highs and Lows" fundraiser on Hampton Beach.
12/23/2020
By Ed Brennen
But because of the coronavirus pandemic, the sophomore business administration major from Stratham, New Hampshire, hasn鈥檛 been able to play the game he loves for the first time in his life.
鈥淎s a student-athlete, I鈥檝e always been identified as a baseball player,鈥 Roberts says. 鈥淲hen you have all that taken from you in an instant, you think, 鈥榃hat am I outside of the game?鈥 I did a lot of thinking about that this year and decided I wanted to make a change for people who are affected by everything going on.鈥
So Roberts and two of his hometown friends, Emmie Daswani and Adrian Delli Colli, decided to walk 120 miles 鈥 from the foot of New Hampshire鈥檚 Mount Washington to Hampton Beach 鈥 over six days in December to raise money and awareness for people struggling with mental health issues.聽
They called the fundraiser 鈥淗ighs and Lows鈥 to represent the ups and downs that people can feel 鈥 especially during this pandemic.
Image by Ed Brennen
Garret Roberts thanks supporters after completing a 120-mile walk through New Hampshire that raised over $8,000 for mental health services.
鈥淥ne minute you can be on top of the world and the next, you can find yourself in a bad place,鈥 says Roberts, who completed the walk on Dec. 22 along the dormant Hampton boardwalk, where the trio was greeted by a few dozen cheering supporters.
Among them was Kristen Welch, director of development for the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (), the nonprofit organization that will receive the more than $8,000 that Roberts and his friends raised so far through their聽 campaign.
鈥淲e are so humbled and so proud of them. What an amazing thing for young people to do,鈥 says Welch. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not only raising money for us, which is important, but they鈥檙e also raising awareness of mental health and the struggles that people are facing during the pandemic.鈥
Roberts was inspired to organize the walk after Delli Colli held a similar event a month earlier in Nova Scotia, where he鈥檚 attending college. Branding themselves the 鈥,鈥 the three friends started seriously planning the logistics of their walk in early December.
鈥淚 thought he was insane when he told me he was going to walk 120 miles, but I鈥檓 pumped he was able to do it,鈥 says聽, a sophomore criminal justice major from Milton, Massachusetts, who is one of Roberts鈥 roommates and baseball teammates 鈥 and among several UML students who showed up at the finish line. 鈥淒oing something like this is awesome. It shows people who are struggling that there are people out there who care about you.鈥
Image by Ed Brennen
Director of Development Kristen Welch, center, and colleagues from NAMI hold a banner thanking the students for their fundraising efforts.
UML baseball coach聽聽was also there to congratulate Roberts on his accomplishment.
鈥淭his is why you coach. You make an impact on kids and talk about giving back, and Garret and his friends took it upon themselves to give back with something that is directly affecting everyone in some capacity,鈥 Harring says.
鈥淕arret is the epitome of what we鈥檙e trying to do with 51视频 baseball,鈥 Harring added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just baseball on the field, it鈥檚 what we do off the field. We have a responsibility as a community, especially as athletes, to give back. I鈥檓 proud of him.鈥
When the trio set out from Pinkham Notch on the morning of Dec. 17, they were greeted by New England鈥檚 first major snowstorm of the season. While some suggested they wait out the snow, Roberts is glad they stuck to their announced schedule.
鈥淚t was actually really cool walking through the mountains on Day 1 with the snow falling and no cars on the road. It puts you in your own little world and lets you think,鈥 says Roberts, who wore a white Timberland winter coat during the walk with ski goggles pulled over his River Hawk baseball stocking cap. 鈥淚t was honestly one of the most peaceful experiences I鈥檝e ever had.鈥
The trio shared moments from their walk with hundreds of followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. On Day 3, Boston 25 News and WMUR-TV aired stories about the fundraiser.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when we saw donations skyrocket,鈥 Roberts says. 鈥淲e probably got $5,000 in the next 18 hours, which is absolutely incredible.鈥
Image by Ed Brennen
Garret Roberts poses for a photo after diving into the Atlantic Ocean upon the completion of his 120-mile fundraising walk.
Covering about 20 miles a day, the trio received food donations from well-wishers 鈥 including UML students聽聽and Riley Newell, who brought them homemade spaghetti and meatballs in Rochester, New Hampshire.
鈥淭hey were pretty happy to have some hot food,鈥 says Bennett, a sophomore business administration major from Amesbury, Massachusetts, who is also one of Roberts鈥 roommates and teammates. Newell is a sophomore聽education聽major from Amesbury.
As for shelter each night, the trio also relied on the kindness of others, be it friends or a local fire department.
鈥淓verything was on the go,鈥 Roberts says. 鈥淲e had no idea where we were going to sleep every night, and that was kind of the cool thing. You got up and worried about what was most important, which was covering the distance that needed to be covered.鈥
While the walk started with three friends shuffling through the snow in the White Mountains, it ended with more than 50 friends and family quietly parading down Hampton Beach. People were invited to join the walk for the final 5 or 10 miles.
鈥淭o finish with so many people we鈥檝e grown up with is absolutely incredible,鈥 Roberts said after taking a celebratory plunge with several others in the frigid Atlantic Ocean. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad it had the impact that it did, because this is absolutely amazing.鈥