Event allows cyclists to raise money, awareness about hunger

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Hundreds of cycling events support everything from cancer research to schools. One event focuses on hunger in Texas.

Bike Out Hunger begins April 22 in The Woodlands and finishes April 27 in Arlington. The event seeks to raise awareness of, active involvement in and funds for hunger issues in Texas. It also allows cyclists to participate in anti-hunger efforts throughout the ride, helping them learn how to make hunger advocacy part of their daily lives.

bikeouthunger map410Route of Day 1 of Bike Out Hunger.Seasoned cyclists and recreational riders alike participate in the ride. Some come for the thrill of riding more than 400 miles. Others are drawn by the cause, because they have experienced food insecurity at some point during their lives.

“We help turn people into cyclists and cyclists into hunger advocates through Bike Out Hunger,” said Rand Jenkins, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas communications team, who leads the effort. “People who come to ride in Bike Out Hunger learn to incorporate helping the hungry into their daily, weekly and monthly routines. … Recognizing the need and having a desire and knowledge of how to help are the basics of ending the cycle of hunger—and we teach that throughout Bike Out Hunger.”

Scott Shelton from Athens joined the ride two years ago and never had ridden a long distance on a bike. During the six-day ride, hunger became an important issue to Shelton—so much that he went back home and invited an avid rider in his church, Richard Griffin, to join the event the next year.

He did, and the two men helped organize a one-day Bike Out Hunger in Athens last November to connect many in their church and community to hunger issues in the state and help them become involved with the cause.  

“Caring for the poor and the neglected is not an optional thing, and we want to engage that in the best way we know how,” Shelton said.

This year, riders will begin the 400-mile ride in The Woodlands and weave their way through Bastrop, Austin, Cameron, Waco, Waxahachie and Midlothian to complete the ride at Mission Arlington in downtown Arlington.

Meeting with legislators


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In Austin, cyclists will depart from the Capitol steps after meeting with legislators and lobbyists about their concerns for Texas hunger issues. Commissioner Todd Staples with the Texas Department of Agriculture will send off the cyclists for the day’s ride.

In Waco, riders will talk about hunger efforts with family, church members and Baylor University students at a picnic hosted by Outdoor Waco, the Texas Hunger Initiative, Waco Region Baptist Association and Mission Waco. The following morning, the team will serve breakfast to homeless men and women through an outreach effort at First Lutheran Church.

The ride will end at Mission Arlington after cyclists ride the last leg with several clients of the center who received bicycles as means of transportation to their jobs. The cyclists will tour the mission center to learn more about ways they can get involved in helping end the cycle of hunger and poverty.

Also each day, cyclists will receive information about the food insecurity rate for the counties they ride through, helping them understand more about the area where they are riding and giving them information to share with their friends and family via social media.

Sponsorship

Individuals and churches sponsor the cyclists, some choosing to give a one-time donation, while others are sponsoring each mile a cyclist rides.

In Texas, more than 18.5 percent of the population, or about 4.6 million people, face food insecurity. Texas has the third-highest food insecurity rate in the nation.

“We hope that through the ride we are able to connect people’s passion for cycling with a heart for hungry kids,” Jenkins said. “There is no reason for our state, as abundant and fruitful as it is, to be No. 3 in food insecurity. My hope is that through events like Bike Out Hunger, we can care for people around the state by combining passion and compassion.”

Mother’s Day Hunger Offering

This year, the ride is part of a push for Texas Baptists churches to raise $1 million for hunger efforts in one day through a special Mother’s Day offering.

All the funds raised through Bike Out Hunger and the Mother’s Day offering will support hundreds of food and development projects in Texas and around the world.  The funds raised through the Mother’s Day offering will fund projects through the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering. 

“We are actively working to end the cycle of hunger. Through hunger partnerships in our state, we as a state have taken great strides to help feed the hungry and end the cycle of poverty. But there still is so much more left to do,” Jenkins said.

 


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