Tragedy leads to voyage of hope
By Kyle LoJacono
Staff Writer
Charles Salvatore got the idea riding on his 50cc scooter—travel across the country to raise support for the disease that devastated his mother’s life.
His mother, Dorothy, was engaged to Robert “Coop” Cooper, but hepatitis C took his life last June. Salvatore’s mother and Cooper had planned to take a vacation to Sterling, Alaska, but were unable to make the trip before he died.
“I was just riding around on the day he died and I got to looking at all the beauty around me and thought I need to make this journey for them,” Salvatore, 24, said. “I didn’t have all the plans set yet, but I knew I needed to go on the trip they had planned.”
Salvatore, who first moved to Zephyrhills in 1996, said his mother’s best friend died of cancer around the time Cooper passed away. The two personal tragedies pulled his mother into a state of despair, but Salvatore’s trip to Alaska has put renewed life into her.
His plan is to ride from Zephyrhills to Sterling on his scooter, a distance of 5,600 miles. If he completes the journey he will set a Guinness world record for the longest distance traveled on a 50cc scooter. While such scooters can be legally driven on interstates, they are smaller and less powerful than motorcycles.
“I’m calling it ‘One Man’s Journey,’” Salvatore said. “It is all to raise money and awareness for the American Liver Foundation… It will take at least 25 days, but I’m giving myself two to three months just in case.”
Salvatore left from downtown Zephyrhills at noon April 20. To pay for the trip and to raise money for the foundation, Salvatore sold red wristbands with “One Man’s Journey” on them.
One place he sold the wristbands was at Zephyrhills High, where Salvatore went to school for ninth and parts of his 10th and 12th-grade years. He graduated from the high school in New York and returned to Zephyrhills. Currently he is a culinary student at the Art Institute of Tampa.
“Mr. Salvatore came in and said he was trying to set a world record, and I said aren’t we all,” said Derrick Tucker, Zephyrhills assistant principal. “Then we were told he was trying to bring awareness and raise money for the American Liver Foundation and principal (Steve) Van Gorden thought it would be good to let him sell his bracelets here during lunch.”
A video of Salvatore’s story was played on continuous loop during lunch so the students knew what he was trying to do.
“As principal anytime I can involve the students in worthy causes that give back to the community or help those that are less fortunate I strongly encourage it,” Van Gorden said. “…Charles was very passionate about his beliefs. He shared a personal story about why he was involved with the cause.”
Salvatore has received sponsorships from businesses and organizations in the area, which include Zephyrhills Water, Affordable Motorsports and New Walk Church in Zephyrhills. Zephyrhills Mayor Cliff McDuffie also gave Salvatore a letter of recommendation so people knew his cause was legitimate.
“I’d like to raise a million dollars, but I’m a 24-year-old kid from Zephyrhills, so that’s probably not going to happen,” Salvatore said. “I’d like to raise as much as I can to give to the liver foundation because they need all the help they can get.”
Salvatore said the foundation’s southeast division gives services to five states including Florida, but only has two staff members. Everything that does not go to food and gas on his trip will go to the foundation. By the time he left he had raised more than $5,000.
“I’ll be sleeping in a tent some of the time, so I won’t be spending all the donations on fancy hotels or anything like that,” Salvatore said. “Sheraton (Hotels) is donating some hotel rooms for me along the way…I want as much money to go to the foundation as possible.”
Salvatore did not expect his project to get the kind of attention it did a few weeks back while trying to sell his bracelets in New Port Richey. His 10-year-old nephew was holding the money raised at the event when someone tried to steal the donations.
“The guy asked my nephew how his grandfather died,” Salvatore said. “That confused him and while he was thinking, the guy grabbed the money and tried to get away on his bike.”
The man did not get far thanks to Salvatore’s scooter. He was able to chase the would-be thief and recovered the money for the trip. John A. Marika, of Palm Harbor, was charged with robbery by sudden snatching in the case and was in the Land O’ Lakes Detention Center at press time, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office’s Web site, www.pascosheriff.com.
“It just made it bigger for me,” Salvatore said of the publicity he received because of the robbery attempt. “It got the word out faster than I could have done on my own.”
After his trip, Salvatore said he plans to return to Zephyrhills to finish his degree and become a chef.
“The people of Zephyrhills and all over Pasco County have really helped me with the trip,” Salvatore said. “I couldn’t have raised the money without them.”
