These past few days or even week have felt like a hurricane of events tossing me around in life. Thanks to family and friends Chris and I are persevering and will continue this Trek For Hope somehow. I think its more of a principal thing now. I cant let it die, not like this.
So, here is the story of me, Troy Yocum, Wish Upon A Hero and Hike For Our Heroe's.................
I originally was walking to raise funds and awareness for the Special operations Warrior Foundation. I set out on my Trek with the plan of using road donations from the American people to support my needs on the trail such as food, water, hotels etc. As I moved further west I saw the donations and interest in the Trek die out. I was dipping into my own personal bank account to continue the trek and eventually I came to the decision that I wasnt going to be able to keep that up. I had that money set aside for extreme emergencies but really for me to start over once I returned to Tampa. So, I contacted SOWF and said once I reached El Paso I was going to stop the Trek and grab a bus ride back to florida. They understood the situation and were thankful for all I had done for them. There was no bad blood between us and there is none still.
I posted on my Trek For Hope FB page that I was going to call it in El Paso. That page was hijacked by Troy and shut down.... we will get to that.
So Troy Yocum contacts me with a proposal. I had told him via text that I would be stopping. So, he offers to have me join his charity and says he can get me an ops budget and a support team and we will be up and running almost immediately. I thought about it and said yes to it. It would allow me to continue what I started but more importantly it would allow me to continue to help my fellow troops and their families. Plus, I didnt want the Trek to end....Im kinda hard headed like that.
So Troy told me to wait in El Paso till Chris Williams arrived with the escort vehicle. Chris is my escort driver and has been prepping and outfitting an actual M998 medevac Humvee to follow me the rest of the Trek. Chris has spent thousands on this operation. Well, Troy had 500 dollars sent to me when i was a few days out from EP for supplies and rooms while in EP. Troy told me that there were no rooms available in EP and he couldn't get me a free room..... he had promised me this on the phone during his come aboard speech. So, I ended up finding a room just fine and spent some of the 500 that night on the room and food etc.
While all this is going on, I am suppossed to have a team set up. Troy tells me he has a team leader for me and he is going to get me going. I never realized that support team. I heard alot of promises from Troy but outside of the 500 dollars I never saw anything.
Well, I and Chris gave Troy admin status on our pages so he could help post and promote.
Just 2 days ago now, I had a text conversation with troy about the issues of paying for rooms and running out of money if I did(55-70 a night and it goes fast coupled with food) and also how he was erasing postings of people that were working hard to help raise funds for a generator for the escort vehicle. Well, it seems Troy didn't like that I was calling him out on these issues and he got pissed off and threw a temper tantrum and shut down my page and Chris's page. I did tell him that it seemed like we were on different pages, books even and it may be best to go our separate ways. He took that all wrong and called me a quitter and said I was looking to quit. I did say that "quitting has always been an option and I didnt need him for that." True enough, I could have quit after the first mile....no one is forcing me to do this. Troy had also linked my trekforhope.com to a firstgiving.com donations page in order to raise funds. He is still using that name to solicit donations and these donations are going to HIS pockets. Come to find out he is working for a FOR-PROFIT organization. So, he raises funds to put in his pocket as well. I saw that when I met him in Jackson MS to meet the governor. He bought an Apple iPad2 with what I believe to be donations money. He is sponsored by Green Beans coffee and he asked Mareike how much money they had left from the GB funds and thats what he used to buy his new toy. This was iPad number 2 for them I believe. So, it seems from my experience that Troy is not so aboveboard. I have had so many ppl contact me via email, text and calls to tell me how they had a bad experience with him and how they are still supporting me and chris... please dont quit...dont let him get to you etc. Thats awesome! Im so glad to know so many people are behind me. Thank you so much!
I know I am slandering Troy to a point...this isnt all I could say I guess.....Im to the point that I feel it needs to be said. There are those of us that are truly in this to help others and then it would seem there are those who are after glory and riches. Know who your friends are is all I can say. There are snakes out there.
So, the Trek will continue. Chris and I will pull together and start over. With freinds and family like ours and God above, we cant fail.
There is a new FB page for me thanks to my vet freind in Dallas Ga, Jim. search under MattsTrekForHope on FB. Hope to see you all there soon so we can continue mission.
Love to all!
Like the new page AND the new mindset. Hooah!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're back up mostly! Continuing to believe for the generator funds!
ReplyDeleteTook some work but I finally found this. I agree with you that this all needed to be said. I am so very sorry that you had to go through this and am praying it all works out and quickly. Besides I have my plans made for meeting you again, in Houston, when you come back. Keep up the great work, we are all rooting for you.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I'm glad to read all that you've written above. I don't know you or Troy personally, but when your missions began linking up I looked him up. I looked him up for the same reason I looked you up when I heard about your trek; it sounded like a cool thing to do and for an enormously important cause. But when I looked Troy up I was shocked at how many people (military and civilians alike) were falling over themselves to discredit him and his "mission". Of course you can't believe everything you read, but there was just SO much negative that it was clear that he wasn't on the up and up. In contrast I never ever got that impression from you and your mission, but I wondered why you would be associating yourself and your trek with someone like that. And at the very least it kept me from promoting your trek as heavily as I might have amongst my own friends/family/contacts. I'm really glad you've put all the dirty laundry out there, and that you can now move forward with your cause! =)
ReplyDeleteI can't find the new FB page...and I copy pasted what you have written above: MattsTrekForHope
ReplyDeleteDanielle, I think it is MattsTrek4Hope
ReplyDeleteThank you, found it! =)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I wish you and Chris lots of success in continuing on your mission!
ReplyDeleteI did want to clarify a couple of things. Wish Upon a Hero is a for profit organization, but Wish Upon a Hero Foundation is a nonprofit. Troy's donations are handled by the Foundation, the nonprofit.
Regarding the purchase of the iPad, Troy has several sponsors. Some give him money for incidentals like food, gas, etc. Others give him things like clothes and shoes. Donations given to Green Beans Coffee would have gone directly to them, not to Troy, so I'm pretty sure he would have used sponsorship, not donation, dollars to pay for the iPad, which would have been perfectly legitimate.
I'm sorry things couldn't have worked out between the two of you. I think both of you have your hearts in the right place, but obviously, someone has to be a bit stubborn, and emotions have to run a bit high, in order to even think about a mission such as this, much less attempt and complete it. Unfortunately, it's not surprising that two people with that type of driven mindset would end up butting heads. :-(
Shutting down your page was not cool, and I'd be angry about that, too, but I think the other stuff is above board.
I'll be keeping an eye on your progress! Lots of luck!
Thank you for your verbal support Dusty. I can assume you are an avid supporter of Troy from your above comment.
ReplyDeleteLet me help you clear your above comments up as they seem a bit off.
The iPad purchase was made with Green Beans money as I did hear Troy ask Mareike if they had enough from the GB money to buy it. Now, according to Troy as he put it to me, GB money is for the fuel. If GB is giving Troy money for one specific aspect and Troy is using it for something else then that is a misappropriation of funds. Certainly a number of agencies would be interested in that but even more so I.m sure that Troy's supporters would need to be aware. If everything is on the up and up then transparency wouldnt be an issue and financial statements could be given to show the aboveboard actions.
Troy and I both receive consumable goods like shoes from sponsors which is quite different than actual money. No one can argue how a shoe is to be used.
I think it is fortunate that things did not work out between us. I certainly do not wish to associated with a person such as Troy after what he has shown me and I cant support a foundation or non profit or whatever Wish is hoping to present themselves as when they are linked up with such as Troy. Dave, the founder of Wish, responded to my emails and to others emails with an attitude of about face. He denied any level of responsibility in all things recent but according to Troy he(troy) was not alone in the decision to shut down my page on fb. I would say that there has been significant underhanded actions taking place and I want to expose the truth.
Please do not associate me with Troy by saying our hearts are in the right place. I know that mine is but I will not say that Troys is. Unfortunately Troy had to pitch a fit like a child and act the way he did. His stubbornness has decimated all my work and has left those that followed the Trek lost as to what happened to me. If Troys heart really was in the right place we wouldn't see actions such as he has shown. Troy is certainly driven but he is driven to glory and profit which is alternate to my desires.
Hopefully Troy can see his error and restore my page and Chris's page which would be a step in the right direction for Troy.
Thanks for your response, Matt! I'm a supporter of our troops (by the way, thank you soooo much for your service!) and their families first and foremost, and that's who gets my loyalty above and beyond any individual person or charity. So while I do support Troy, I don't blindly support him and I'm finding your comments very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you're saying about the fuel, but wouldn't Troy have to provide receipts for fuel expenses if that's what the GB funds are earmarked for? In that case, could it be that he used the GB money to get the iPad at that time and then reimbursed the account (i.e. paid for gas) with other sponsor/personal funds? I have no idea if that's what happened but it's a thought. I would hope every business who sponsors him requires a paper trail for their tax purposes, and if all the GB money is only supposed to go towards fuel, I would hope all would match up when the final accounting is in.
You're right. While I know there are some people who want to argue about everything, I think even they would find it pretty hard to argue about how a shoe should be used! :-)
I'm sorry you took offense at me "associating" you with Troy with my comment about hearts in the right places. I certainly didn't mean to offend you. In the end, only one person truly knows where their heart is. While people can certainly say anything they want to make themselves sound good, and some say nothing at all, actions speak louder than words or silence, and it sounds like you'll follow through on those actions. Good for you! :-)
I'm glad you were in contact with the founder of Wish Upon a Hero to let him know your concerns. At the very least, you've put him on notice to keep his eyes open.
I definitely agree that your pages should be restored. It was very wrong for him to take them down. Have you checked with Facebook to see if you & Chris, as the founding admins, can override a very recent admin and restore the pages? I would hope they could see who had actually started the page and have that be the deciding factor.
Again, I truly do wish you luck and good health on the rest of your journey. Hang in there!
Dusty,
ReplyDeleteIm glad you find my comments "interesting." I would hope more people would take interest here and search out the truth. I would say that for someone who is not a blind follower you have certainly presented yourself as a defender of Troy. Maybe you only wish to play devil's advocate. I would ask that we keep the discussion on point and not offer up "what if's" and theories as to the truth. I am presenting the truth as I know and I am happy to have anyone delve in and show me to be a falsifier of the truth.
No worries at offending me either. I was only concerned at your choice of verb-age and feared the readers may associate troys actions and myself. We have to remember that a serious transgression has taken place here and its important at this time to differentiate between two entities presenting themselves under the same label. Again, I am stating all things from my point of view and based on my experience.
I must be fair to the Founder of Wish, he did recently ask Troy to remove my trekforhope.com site from his firstgiving.com page and as I understand it, the Founder also asked Troy to restore the pages which has yet to happen. Thank you to Dave(founder) for this action on his part.
I have emailed FB and at this time I have received no response from them. I would hope they are investigating before giving a response. If Troy permanently deleted the pages we may be in trouble there.
Thank you for your kind words and I wish you well in life Dusty!
What's that saying about there's three sides to every story? I wouldn't call my comments defending Troy or necessarily playing devil's advocate, and "interesting" may not be the exact word I was looking for, but you did get my attention (and I'm sure the attention of others), which is what you wanted to do, right? Job well done!
ReplyDeleteI do tend to try to look at both (or all!) sides of an issue and find myself mediating a lot of discussions as a disinterested, or maybe unemotional would be a better word, third party, so I guess that's where the "what ifs" come from. Since I have no clue as to the inner workings of the sponsorships, it truly was wondering on my part, not defending.
All any of us can do is state things from our points of view and from our experience, and then others can decide what, if anything, to take away from it. I think you've given people a lot to think about.
I'm glad the WUAH founder has talked to Troy and at least gotten one thing taken care of, and I hope that FB gets back to you soon and restores your pages if Troy doesn't do it on his own first. Hopefully, though, Troy will do the right thing. I really, really, really hope they have not been permanently deleted and are still hanging out on some server somewhere! You deserve to have your pages back.
While I wish things had not gone so sour between you and Troy so we never would have had to have this discussion, I want to thank you for the way you've responded to me. I may not have always made it clear exactly where I was coming from (writing does have its limitations over a face-to-face discussion for sure!), but you've been very polite and informative in your answers, and I do appreciate that! Thank you for YOUR kind words, and I'll keep you in my prayers. :-)
So I'm curious about the donations that were made to the generator fund just before your FB page was shut down... Did you get those funds or were they taken by Troy because the donations page was set up through his trek/donations page?
ReplyDeleteThe funds given by supporters specifically to purchase a generator for the Trek were taken by Troy to compensate for the funds he had given Matt for expenses. Matt was following his instructions to get a motel room and to stay put until the escort vehicle arrived and Matt used the funds he was given to use for just that purpose.
ReplyDeleteTroy is a PUNK!He and his whole crew are assholes I hope one day I get a chance to spit in his face.
ReplyDelete