Photo above: Team Squaliform, Rites of Passage, February 2025. Liam pictured far right.
At Trekkers, we often talk about the power of community and the impact of long-term relationships. But every so often, a moment comes along that reminds us just how deeply those values take root. Liam’s story is one of those moments.
Recent Trekkers grad, Scout Bookham, raises her paddle at Fired Up, an annual fundraising event for Trekkers. July 2025.
This past summer, Liam—a recent Trekkers graduate—was gearing up for a family camping trip on Washington Pond. He’d been wanting to get back into fishing and found himself at Maine Sport Outfitters, eyeing a high-end rod priced around $400. As a soon-to-be college student working an ice cream truck job, it was a big purchase. He decided to hold off and think it through.
Later that day, Liam attended Trekkers’ annual Fired Up fundraising event. Surrounded by the generosity of community members raising their paddles to support youth mentoring, something shifted. “I was thinking, ‘God, it would be really cool if I could do this someday,'” Liam said. Then came the lower-range donation bids—more within reach for someone on a student budget. “It wasn’t a super crazy decision,” he said. “I realized I was about to spend that amount of money on something so material, with so little value compared to this program. So I got up and raised my paddle.”
Liam’s choice to donate his hard-earned money wasn’t just generous—it was transformational. It reflects the empathy that students build as they participate in community service, work together towards common goals as a team, and emulate the support that mentors provide them over the course of their time in Trekkers. Over the past year, Liam is one of a few students who have stepped up to donate summer job earnings to support Trekkers and ensure their younger peers have access to the same opportunities.
Arielle Murdock, a 9th grade student, donated summer earnings to “pay it forward”, citing an intention to ensure other students have the chance to participate in Trekkers.
TJ Morris, Liam’s program manager, shared: “As a program manager, you can only hope you are making an impact on the students you serve. Trekkers provides six years of experiences and opportunities, and what they do with it after they graduate is up to them. To see Liam choose to donate his own money back to the organization—back to providing those experiences for the next generation of Trekkers – moved me nearly to tears. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
That spirit of giving didn’t appear out of nowhere. It grew from the example set by caring adults—mentors, donors, and community members—who believed that steady, ongoing support could change a student’s life.
As we enter the season of giving, we invite you to join Liam and other young changemakers in ensuring every student has access to the experiences that help them thrive. To make a donation, visit trekkers.org/donate.
Recent Comments