La Porte native travels on pontoon boat to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities

LA PORTE, Ind. -- A La Porte man is making waves as he embarks on a 5,500-mile journey by pontoon boat all for a good cause. For the past 55 days, Darren Hayes has lived on his pontoon boat, traveling nearly 3,000 miles through 12 states on the Great Loop.

"We've done other trips in the past for the same cause, and this is the one we chose to do, because I just love being on boats, and I've always wanted to do this trip. And I thought, You know what, if I can incorporate the two and raise money for an amazing foundation. Well, you know what? Let's do it," Hayes said.

His mission? Raising money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

"What these families are dealing with is their children going through surgeries and procedures and things. They're actually going through real struggles. And for me, I get to sacrifice maybe a little bit of a comfortable night's sleep, sleeping on a boat so that we can raise funds for those families towards so they can be comfortable when and close by their children when they're going through procedures," Hayes said.

Hayes says he plans to finish the Great Loop in Florida by Oct. 1.