The Peckenham Boys Go to Sea

My name is Garen Peckenham.  I am a 14 year old freshman in high school from Reno, NV.  My big brother, Tanner, is in the Navy and stationed aboard the U.S.S. Comstock and is coming home from his first overseas deployment from the Persian Gulf next month.  A little while ago, Tanner offered me a once in a lifetime opportunity to join him on the final leg of his deployment called the “Tiger Cruise”.  If I can somehow get the money to go, I will be able to join him in Hawaii and travel back with him aboard the ship to San Diego.  While I’m on the ship, I will get to see what Navy life is all about.  It is my dream to follow in my big brother’s footsteps and join the Navy when I graduate from high school in 2018.  There’s just one problem…I’m a kid and I’m broke.  

My mother is a single parent and can’t afford to fly me to Hawaii and then back from San Diego.  Also, because I’m a kid, the Navy won’t let me go to Hawaii and the ship by myself, so my Mom needs to go with me to make sure I get where I need to go.  Up to now, I’ve looked everywhere I could to find the money for the plane tickets, but it’s pretty much impossible when you’re 14, going to school and can’t get a job.  I have a little money from Christmas that I’m going to use, but I still need about $1000 to pay for the plane tickets and for my spot on the ship.  

If you’re reading this and you think this is a good cause, I would really appreciate your help.  When I’m on the ship, I’m going to take a lot of pictures and videos and post them to a special Facebook page when I get back, so all the people who helped me go will get to see what a good thing this is for kids, and maybe more kids will get to do it later on.  Thank you for looking at this and thank you for helping me.  I couldn’t do it without you…

Garen