Portage for a Purpose

A young man from Rochester, Minnesota changed his plans to carry a canoe the entire length of the Superior Hiking trail to raise funds and awareness for suicide.

Evan “Sweet” Hansen was to begin his journey starting in Grand Portage on September 1. Instead, he started from the border of South Dakota, near Sioux Falls, and will end his long portage in Wenonah, Minnesota near the Wisconsin border after about one month of portaging his 10-foot canoe.

“I will be trading mountains for cornfields,” Evan said in an emotional video posted on Facebook.

Evan said he will still be shouldering his canoe more than 300 miles and the Superior Hiking Trail will be there for a later adventure.

Recent forest fires have caused portions of the Superior Hiking trail to be closed, said Hansen, making it necessary to change plans. He called it the smart thing to do and the right thing to do as well. Saving lives and not risking lives is his goal, he added, and he did not want to endanger first responders or firefighters by taking his fund-raising hike at this time through the Northwoods.

On his Facebook page Evan noted, “I am doing this to honor the memories of those who have lost their lives to suicide. I am also hopeful that this endeavor will help shed light on the invisible burden that the victims of suicide have carried as well as the weight of grief that their loved ones continue to bare.”

Hansen said in his recent past that four people he has known have taken their lives.

“The goal of my fundraiser is simple—decrease the number of lives lost to suicide.”

Those who lost friends or family to suicide were encouraged to sign the canoe Evan carries. By August 31 Evan had 181 names on the canoe.

Hansen said he will shoulder a 10-foot Wenonah canoe as he hikes. The canoe symbolizes the weight victims carry, the invisible burden that the victims of suicide have carried as well as the weight of grief that their loved ones continue to bear.

Evan hopes to raise $320 for every mile he covers, with 100 percent of the funds going directly to the non-profit organization, NAMI Southeast Minnesota, so that they can continue to provide high quality mental health services.