Cross-country journey

Some people walk to exercise and some people take a walk to enjoy the fresh air Glenn Koster, Sr. walks to raise awareness for foster care and adoption. Starting in Miami Beach, Florida on February 1, 2018, Koster’s journey cuts through 16 states for a total of 4,467 miles. 

At the age of 6, Koster entered the foster system and moved around until he was adopted at age 10. He knows firsthand just how difficult the process can be on a child or teen and how it can impact the rest of your life.

In 2011 Koster decided to make a healthy life change to shed some extra weight and started walking. By the end of that year, he had lost nearly 60 pounds and in 2012, Koster participated in the Get Fit Challenge and managed to walk 280 miles in June of that year and another 225 miles in July, which sparked his walking craze. 

It was because of his large walking summer that Koster began to think of ways he could go bigger. He was just coming up on his 60th birthday in 2015 and he decided to celebrate with a momentous walk across his home state of Kansas. 

The main focus of Koster’s journey in 2015 was to raise money for four central Kansas charities; Reins of Hope, Big Brothers Big Sisters, First Call For Help and Heart to Heart.  Koster›s walk recently brought him through Sanders County. He started in Miami on February 1, 2018, and hopes to finish at the Pacific Ocean on August 26, 2019.

Glenn and his wife Charlcie started Charity Steps in 2015 to raise money for foster care and adoption. The pair have committed to the goal of bringing awareness to the problems within the foster care system.

Charlcie drives an RV where the couple stays on the weekends when Glenn is not walking. He walks six days a week for seven hours. The couple’s dog, Walker Kansas K-9, has also joined them on the journey. The dog's unique name was inspired by Walker Texas Ranger while also paying tribute to Koster’s walking passion and their home state. Glenn has also written the book, Life is a Long Story Short: True Stories About the Lessons from Living Through Abuse, Abandonment, and Adoption. He plans on writing three more books.

According to Koster, who got his information from the National Adoption Network, in Montana there are 1,623 kids in foster care, not including reservations which work with a different system. There are 127 children waiting for adoption in Montana. He has talked to 38 different groups and 49 newspapers,

Koster was physically, emotionally, and sexually abused as a child by his birth father, who later abandoned him. He was also sexually abused by a close relative of his first foster family and he experienced the death of his first foster father at a young age.

“Because I followed the sins of my birth father, I cannot be a foster parent or an adoptive parent.” He is a recovering alcoholic, sober since March 13, 1989, and a recovering spousal abuser, violence-free since May 27, 1989. Since he cannot be a foster or adoptive parent, walking across the United States to raise awareness is his way to give back.

“This is important,” Koster said. “The most common question I get is, 'I can’t foster or adopt, what can I do?' My answer is that everyone can do something.”

Koster offers the same advice to anyone inquires. Accept them, all foster and adoptive families want to be accepted as they are. Love them. Be a respite parent. In most families, when a couple needs some time away or to attend a special event, they can have family members watch their kids. This is not allowed in a foster family. Only trained and approved respite parents can step in so it can be a great help to become one.

Another option is to become an Emergency Parent. When an emergency situation occurs, the children often stay for long periods of time in the office of social workers because there is not another suitable place in such a short time. 

Mentoring and donating are also on Koster’s list of helpful efforts. Mentors can teach the children life skills and just be there for them. Donating helps provide basic needs for the children such as duffle bags, backpacks and emergency care kits.

Everywhere Glen and Charlcie travel they run into someone who has been in the foster system. Many tell them they feel abandoned and that they didn’t belong anywhere. Koster commented how his faith and prayer have helped him tremendously on his journey and he asks everyone he meets to pray for the foster care system and the children. 

If you are interested in tracking Koster’s journey and seeing the exact route he is taking, visit facebook.com/ksCharitySteps and facebook.com/glenn.koster.