4,500 Miles for World Hunger

Bread for the World members Chuck and Laura Richardson biked 4,500 miles this summer – from Yorktown, VA, to Los Angeles – to draw attention to global hunger and the goals of the ONE Campaign. Their route was entirely along back roads, so they had many opportunities to talk with people in small towns across the country.

"We don't have a lot of money or influential jobs," said Laura Richardson. "We wanted to emphasize that one or two people can make a big difference on an issue like hunger. You don't need to wait until a problem affects you personally – ending hunger is simply the right thing to do."

The Richardsons biked across the country to highlight ONE and hunger.

They found that many people had not spent much time thinking about problems around the world. "It was rewarding to communicate with people about something new to them. It's important to make the numbers concrete, because it can be hard to visualize hundreds of millions of hungry people," said Chuck Richardson. "Frankly, global hunger is a rather complex issue. We tried to give a sense of the whole context, rather than over-simplify the problems or the solutions."

The couple's previous cycling trip, which benefited Doctors Without Borders in 2002, gave them valuable organizing experience. This time, they worked with local BFW chapters and other community organizations to organize meetings and fundraisers. Laura said, "It really gave us hope to meet people who were so committed. Sometimes at home, we feel like we're in this alone."

As they approached towns, the couple sent postcards to the local media to help generate newspaper and TV coverage. "The media was interested because we established a personal connection – it was a story about actual people working for a cause," said Chuck. They plan to do at least two more annual cycling trips to benefit Bread for the World.

"It takes time to make contacts and build credibility," said Laura. "But there is a huge cycling community in the United States, so there's a lot of potential if you can just get them involved. The next two years should really begin to pay off in terms of getting people involved and raising more money."

Thanks to Chuck and Laura Richardson for their travels -- rain or shine -- on behalf of hungry people!

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