Medford man raising money for fire victims by pushing his own physical limits

MEDFORD, Ore. —A South Medford High School graduate is making a difference one step at a time.

19-year-old Spencer Fowler left for college, just 2 days after the Almeda Fire tore through Phoenix and Talent.

“When it’s in your home town it hits totally different,” says Fowler.

The 2020 South Medford graduate has several friends who lost their homes to the devastating fire and knew he needed to help.

Fowler’s always been physically active.

He played football and ran track, and is now working to become an athletic trainer.

That’s how he came upon a book by navy seal David Goggins.

Fowler decided to follow his lead and do a 4x4x48 challenge.

That means running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 straight hours, Fowler says this is 192 laps around the track in total.

“I almost threw up in anxiety because I knew I had to do this challenge I just didn’t know what for and I was looking at non-profits seeing who I could donate to and it hit me, it was the fires of Southern Oregon that’s how it started,” says Fowler

Now, on the track where he made so many memories in high school, Fowler is taking on the challenge, to raise money for the Jacksonville Presbyterian Church, which will distribute it to families affected by the fires.

“I just wanted to challenge myself because it’s a challenging time and I think that’s definitely something that we need to not only raise money for the fire victims but unite as a community as well,” says Fowler.

Fowler’s already getting attention.

The GoFundMe he launched raised $2,000 in one day.

That got the attention of the Oregon National Guard, who is supporting his effort.

“When I heard the size of the challenge that he’s taking on, whatever we can do to help we’re going to be there for that, “says Erik Andreason with the National Guard.

The challenge will be the biggest of Fowler’s young life.

But considering what he’s seen others go through the past 6 months, he’s up to the task.

Fowler will begin the 48-hour challenge on March 5th.

As of today, he has already raised almost $11,000.

You can find Fowler’s GoFundMe here

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