- When: 4/21/17
- QIC: F3Qsource
Aside for work and giving back to the community, Meyers is a dedicated family man — both to his actual family and his church family. He met his wife, Jennifer, in St. Augustine while in college.
“She’s an island girl. We experimented with Atlanta for 14 months, it would have been shorter if we didn’t have a lease! We moved to the island in April of 2008,” he said. “We have two great boys — Jonathan ‘Walker’ and Kaden Daniel. Walker is 3 and a half, and Kaden is 6 months old,” he said.
He’s equally proud of his church family and his involvement there.
“I help out and volunteer with the youth group. It keeps me young! I get to lead Sunday School, Sunday night MYF, Wednesday night youth, attend The Main Event with Gathering Place, and then I go on a lot of the trips with them,” he said.
“Every year I am a chaperone for our Summer Mission Trip. I am also a 707 leader. I’ve got the coolest group of boys that are heading into their sophomore year. I’ve been leading the group since they were little sixth graders. They are like a second family, like much younger brothers.”
Some people are simply, as articulated in the classic film, “The Wizard of Oz,” good-deed doers. And like the Tin Man in the film, Dan Meyers is all heart.
A good-deed doer from way back, Meyers is never at a loss for a project aimed at making his community better. He’s been involved with projects like Operation Bedspread, which collects and donates beds to those in need, as well as several others through his church group, St. Simons United Methodist Church. Meyers also lends his time to Sweet Georgia Sips, Manna House, Blessings in a Backpack and The Well.
Recently, he decided to take up a new cause — Ruck Across America. The project is a national one that aims to raise awareness for the veterans and their issues. The event, Ruck Across America 2.0, takes a pack, or ruck, and passes it between individuals who volunteer to participate.
“The hike is a repeat of an event that occurred in 2012 and was the brain child of an individual by the name of Chris Way,” he said. “Just as we are doing now, a backpack, or ruck, was handed off from person to person in an effort to relay it across the country to raise awareness and funds for The Green Beret Foundation. The only difference with this event is the direction the ruck is traveling, the goal of having it travel across all 50 states, and this time we are working to raise funds for Warrior 360, a charity setup to address the urgent needs of veterans and their families.”
The organizer, Terry Ford, started the ruck (nicknamed Deuce) out in Tampa, Florida, moving across the southern proton of the state. He then moved up toward Georgia. Of course, as Meyers knows all too well, carrying the pack is no easy task.
“Carrying Deuce is a decent workout. Deuce has a weight plate in it, and has collected quite the plethora of patches, service coins and koozies along the way, “ he said.
The Georgia portion of the journey leg started with Dusty Lewis and Scott Risi picking Deuce up at the state line. The pack then made it to the Golden Isles. Meyers, along with a group of men from his workout group, known as F3, took up the charge to carry the pack.
“(The ruck) traveled to Kings Bay and the air show, even getting his picture with the Blue Angels. Deuce followed 17 north, in multiple legs, ranging in length from 3 miles to almost 17. All by foot, we rucked Deuce north. All the guys that carried it from the state line to Darien were a part of our Free Men’s workout group, F3,” he said.
Meyers, himself, got to carry Deuce during a particularly fun part of the trip. That is, scaling the longest, tallest bridge in Georgia.