Cycling to Feed Local Hungry Kids

Here is one more great example of the power of cycling to help our community.

​The Avalon School is just 3 miles from the glitz and opulence of Naples Fifth Ave, but the students might as well be light years away.

The average family income of the student’s families is only $14,000. Fortunately, 95% of the students qualify for free breakfast and lunch which they eat at school during the week. 

The real problem is what happens over the weekend.  Kids go hungry.  This is the critical gap that the Pan-Florida Challenge fills.

Over the past three years, the Pan-Florida Challenge ride has raised money to provide 3 million meals to over 2,500 children across Florida.

The aid is in the form of a “Power Pack”. A nutritious package of meals designed to sustain a child and also help feed their family over the weekend.

I volunteered to help package and hand out Power Packs at the Avalon School in Naples and was it was a moving experience.  The school, teachers, and kids were awesome! 

I came away with the feeling that school wasn’t a place they didn’t want to go to, (that was sometimes how I used to feel as a kid) but it was a sanctuary.

One of the counselors showed me a picture of one of the kid’s living conditions. It was a trailer that was damaged by Hurricane Irma.

The walls were covered in mold. If the trailer was inspected it would be condemned and then the family would be living on the street.

Meeting the children and seeing their plight made this much more than a charity or a cause, it made it real for me.

The awesome Pan-Florida Challenge Organization has done an excellent job raising money and awareness to feed hungry children right in our backyard and across Florida.

I am proud to say that Trek has supported and sponsored the Pan-Florida Challenge since its inception. Besides handling Trek’s marketing and support for the event I rode and raised money last year. 

This March 10th and 11th Sue Fleming and I will be leading a team for Trek. We will be riding 200 miles from Naples on the gulf to Vero Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. We welcome riders on our team and hope to field a contingent from the Segafredo-Trek Tri Club.

Related Post: SW Florida's cycling community unites to help our neighbors!