Former police chief and partner hiking Appalachian Trail for charity

PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - After nearly two months and more than 500 miles hiked, two West Virginians say their journey to help local charities is far from over.

“You’re sore, you’re hurting, you want to get off the mountain, you want to quit but you just got to push on. Because, these charities do, so why can’t we?” said Edward Starcher, who’s the former Winfield Police Chief.

Starcher said after he retired as chief, he wanted to do something positive for his community.

“The more we walk, the more money we make for the local charities,” he said.

Jennifer Agosti is Starcher’s partner for the hike. The two each picked two charities, which include West Virginia Suicide Prevention, Pleasant Valley Hospital, a local church needing repairs and a local family who battled cancer.

“I had a friend that committed suicide this year, and I think with COVID and everything a lot of the youth --there’s been a lot of suicides, so it was something close to my heart,” said Jennifer Agosti.

The two are going to split their donations in four ways when they complete their journey. So far, Starcher said they have gone through West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“We are in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, right now,” Starcher said. “Massachusetts will be done in seven days, then to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.”

In the end, the two will have hiked more than 2,200 miles and plan to complete their journey by October.

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