Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A Tucumcari radio disc jockey soon will walk 66 miles on old Route 66 in the Tucumcari area to help raise funds for a local animal shelter.
Jose Almeida, better known as DJ Lalo at KTNM and KQAY in Tucumcari, will walk a total of 22 miles east and back from the radio station on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for Paws and Claws Animal Rescue of Quay County.
Almeida said he’ll walk 11 miles east on the south Interstate 40 frontage road that is old Route 66, then double back to town each day.
He said he hasn’t been walking a lot in preparation, but his extensive martial-arts training gives him “pretty good leg strength.”
“I like to walk,” he said in a phone interview, “and I don’t see this as a problem for doing it for three days. I think it will take only four to five hours to do those 22 miles.”
Almeida said two years ago, he dyed his hair pink as another fundraiser for Paws and Claws.
“We were thinking, ‘What else can we do?’ I thought, ‘I’ll walk 66 miles on Route 66.’
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, like a challenge,” he added.
He said Wednesday he had only 12 miles sponsored so far, so plenty of spots are available.
Almeida said he moved to Tucumcari about four years ago, and this effort is “one way to give back to the community.”
Almeida is accepting $50 donations for each mile he walks, or $5 to walk about a mile with one of the shelter’s rescue dogs.
Donations can be dropped off at the station or mailed to 902 S. Date St., Tucumcari, NM 88401, or by calling (575) 461-1400. Checks can be made out to Paws and Claws Animal Rescue of Quay County.