Source: By Linda Hughes, JWR Volunteer
The Just Within Reach foundation staff is always striving to raise awareness for JWR. While traveling home from the Olympic Torch Relay in January, Kevin was posed
with a question from the staff - "Is there anything you're afraid of?" According to JWR's Director of Public Relations, Vicki Hanna, Kevin silently thought about it for a few
seconds and responded, "Nope. I don't think so. Not really." After confirming that he could indeed eat any number of gross and disgusting things listed by the staff, it was
decided that Kevin, being the highly competitive and physical person he is, would give an awesome showing as he competed on Celebrity Fear Factor. And though Kevin
admitted in an interview that the only thing he was afraid of was "failure," Kevin and JWR were quick to note that no matter the outcome, his competition on Fear Factor
could never be viewed as a failure. After all, he was doing it for Just Within Reach.
On March 11th Kevin appeared on NBC's Celebrity Fear Factor, showing 17 million TV viewers that there are few things that he wouldn't face when it comes to raising
funds and awareness for his environmental foundation.
According to Vicki Hanna, Kevin did not prepare for the Fear Factor stunts other than mentally. She said he was psyched up for the challenges that they might throw at
him and said he is a very strategic person and thinks through situations. She said as she watched the episode she could see the wheels turning in his mind as the host
explained each of the challenges. She added that probably the only task that caught Kevin by surprise was the snake, worm and cockroach coffin.
"If you watch his reaction as they pull the sheet off the coffin, he raises his eyebrows and you can read the expression on his face almost immediately. It looked as though
he was thinking to himself, 'Goal... Objective... Risk... Reward... Ok, let's do it.'" Kevin told Vicki that the tasks look easier than they really are, particularly when they
require both strength and speed.
The first stunt tested both the mental and physical capabilities of the celebrities as they had to step out of a 36-story window, and using only several hand grips placed on
the outside of the building, had to make their way back and forth along a one-inch ledge, transferring small yellow flags from one open window to another in a three-minute
time frame. As the three women did the stunt first, it was quite evident that Kevin was studying them very carefully, even imitating one of their techniques at one point while
he was standing on the ground.
Kevin was the first of the three men to go up the elevator and when he took his place on the outside of the building he looked relaxed and ready to go. Once the clock
started ticking, however, his fierce competitiveness really showed on his face and while it was clear that the muscles in his legs were shaking at one point, his
determination pulled him through and he planted four flags in under three minutes, easily advancing to the next round.
The next challenge found Kevin focused and intense as he sorted snakes while worms slithered across his legs and angry, hissing Madagascar cockroaches crawled
around his face and head. Always the eco-friendly advocate, after completing the task, he remained in the box and waited for all of the creatures to be removed from his
body so that none of them would fall on the floor and be traumatized. Kevin was a true gentleman as well when he comforted one of his fellow contestants whom was
completely freaked out after being in the coffin. According to Vicki, Kevin said the most annoying part of that challenge was the roaches -- they smelled horrible and they
were obnoxious because of their hissing!
The last stunt combined a physical activity, mental challenge and luck. While locked in a cage and plunged under water, contestants had to find the right key for the lock
and free themselves before swimming to a nearby buoy. The person with the fastest time would be the winner of a $50,000 charity donation. Kevin's time of 43 seconds
was not the fastest so he was eliminated at that point in the final round. He did receive a $10,000 contribution to JWR from Fear Factor and he made an additional
contribution of $5,000.
Kevin did extremely well the entire show and represented his foundation with the utmost of class! "That is true love of your foundation and your cause if you're willing to lie
down in creepy crawlies for it," said Vicki. "We're extremely proud of Kev and very honored."
Kevin said it was a lot of fun and he enjoyed his competitors. Of course he was disappointed that he didn't win. Kevin is very self-motivated and competitive and does not
like to lose. Clearly these same qualities are what make him a good environmental advocate and could make him a strong political contender someday.
Just Within Reach received a number of donations from supporters and Fear Factor viewers as a result of Kevin's participation, and would like to thank everyone that made
a contribution.