LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Ken Anderlitch got a very warm welcome on Friday, greeted with cheers and signs by the staff at DV8 Kitchen in Lexington.
He got to enjoy a nice meal after a 40 mile run through the Bluegrass.
That might sound like a lot but that's been a normal day for Anderlitch over the last couple weeks.
“I’d say (I've run) a little under six hundred miles," Anderlitch said.
"I never thought that I was going to running halfway across America."
1,800 miles across six states.
That's the goal as Ken embarked on a journey from Washington D.C. to his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
An incredible task taken on to raise awareness and support for those in a battle against addiction.
“A lot of the problems I saw were families wanting recovery and wanting to move forward with recovery but that fear of losing your kid. There was that barrier that stopped them. An excuse for them to not move forward with recovery," Anderlitch said.
“I thought, ‘well why don’t we have a program for those who are sick in recovery for early treatment who are capable of being still being a great parent early in their recovery but not taking that away from them.”
That thought led to the creation of the Families in Recovery Program.
For every mile Ken runs, he hopes to raise $50.
That would be $90,000 by the time his journey is complete.
It's a lot of work but the message matters for Ken.
He knows first hand how much drugs can take away.
“At the age of 20, I unfortunately lost my mom to addiction. It’s one of those things I dealt with either through my addiction or my recovery," Anderlitch said.
“It was anything I could put into a needle, alcohol, cigarettes, anything that I could. I took a lot from this world in my addiction. I got sober and all I want to do is continue to keep giving back.”
Anderlitch has stopped at several spots along his route that are doing their part to help people in recovery.
DV8 Kitchen being a prime example as a second chance employer.
“There’s a lot of people in Kentucky that didn’t think that people in recovery deserved jobs and hopefully we’ve changed some minds about that," DV8 Kitchen owner Rob Perez said.
"I think Ken’s message of trying to keep families together in recovery is noble. It’s something that’s not been done yet. I think it’s really cutting edge and really cool.”
With about 1,000 miles left, Anderlitch is hopefully that sharing his story will be an inspiration for others to help the recovery cause but also get more people the help they need.
“I don’t want it to be just about this run. I want this to be out families who have gone through it and who are getting over it," Anderlitch said.
“I think the power of the message is hearing other people who are doing recovery and families.”
