St. Pete man sailing over 5,500 miles for Ronald McDonald House Charities

Man to sail around the Great Loop for a good cause

FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - Starting Tuesday, a pontoon boat will be Darren Hayes’ home for the next four months.

"I'm actually sleeping on that boat," Hayes said. "I'm camping on it for four months, and I'm sacrificing my comfortable night stays to raise funds so that families can stay in a hotel comfortably throughout the duration of their stay," he said.

A St. Pete man plans to sail 5,500 miles to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Hayes is traveling 5,500 miles in the boat to raise awareness and support for Ronald McDonald House Charitites of Tampa Bay. His goal is to raise $100,000 for the charity, and the money will go directly to five Ronald McDonald Houses in the Tampa Bay Area.

What they're saying:

"Our mission is to remove barriers of access to health care for families when their children are receiving life-saving medical treatment, and barriers could be a lot of different things," Bryanna Tramontana, Associate Director of Corporate and Community Engagement Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay, said. "It could be housing. It could transportation. It could meals. It can be all the things that stop a family from staying together during their toughest times," she said.

"It costs us at least $100 a night to house a family. I mean, think about the extended journeys our families have while they stay with us. Some of them as little as one night. Others as long as years while their children receive life-saving treatment," Tramontana said. "The impact (of Hayes' donation) truly just can't be overstated."

Hayes said he was inspired by family friends whose daughter had brain cancer.

"We wanted to do a fundraiser for his family, and we did, and he requested that we take the funds that we raised and give it to the hospital, the Ronald McDonald House, because they took care of him while his family was in need," Hayes said.

A St. Pete man plans to sail 5,500 miles to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

She sadly did not survive her fight with cancer. Hayes named the tractor he drove from Florida to Michigan after her to raise money for Ronald McDonald several years ago. He has also driven a ’48 Ford through 48 states to raise money for the charity.

"We've done a couple of goofy trips in the past. They've both been on land. However, I love boats. I love being on boats, and this, I figured, was a great way to really get attention and put the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay in the limelight," he said.

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Hayes is looking for a name for the boat that Worldwide Yacht Sales in Tierra Verde lent him for the voyage.

"I would love a good survivor story this year. So, if you could go to our social media and do some submissions, give us the names that you think you would like to see on the side of this boat and give us a backstory as to why you would like us to name it that. Maybe somebody that's been in your family that's being impacted by the Ronald McDonald House or any other children's hospital for that matter," he said.

Hayes said he’s ready for all the elements. He plans to head south, then up the east coast to New York and eventually loop back around, ending in Treasure Island. He hopes to cover 80 to 90 miles a day.

"My reaction to hearing about this journey was very much like, ‘oh, this is kind of like Forrest Gump. Like, you're traveling this long distance to raise awareness,’ and it was incredible," Tramontana said.

Hayes will stop at bars and restaurants to hold fundraisers along the way.

"Once I got to see the difference that the donations actually make to these families, it's hard to not do something to help," he said.

Timeline:

He left from the Tierra Verde Marina Resort around 1 p.m. Tuesday and hopes to get to Cape Coral by Tuesday night. You can follow his four-month-long journey and donate on his social media pages and website.

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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kailey Tracy.

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