Hanson Still Walking, A Mile At A Time

Walk is not only the name of Hanson's latest (downloadable-only) album, it’s the name of their tour and what they’re doing.

The three brothers, Zac, Isaac and Taylor, that make up the band are walking a mile, barefoot, at each city on their Walk Around The World tour, and donate one dollar to fighting poverty and AIDS in Africa for each fan that joins them. Participants can request how that donation will be spent, choosing between AIDS treatment, health care, drilling wells, providing shoes or building schools..

Inspired by visits to Africa, the walks are something the band feels is manageable and will have an impact. “No matter how bad of an economic crisis we’re in,” says Zac, “we’re still better off than the rest of the world. It’s about the power of the individual – about the way we look at our own power to affect things. People need to do things they feel passionate about and not feel stopped because they feel inadequate.”

The band’s goal is to reach 24,902 miles, equivalent to the earth’s circumference at the equator. Today, their website update says: “9839 walked. 15,063 to go.”

“AIDS,” says Zac, “is one of the biggest crises in the world.”