OCHD Unveils Route For Brake the Cycle of Poverty Bike Tour Across U.S.

Washington, DC - The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) finalized today the route it will follow on its summer 2003 bike tour across America. The purpose of the trip is to focus attention on poverty in the United States and the need to promote permanent solutions toward breaking the cycle of poverty. Named Brake the Cycle of Poverty, the journey will begin on June 1, when a team of twenty cyclists, ranging in age from 19 to 72, will depart from San Francisco and travel through the following 12 states: California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. It will end on August 1 in Washington, DC. In addition, another team of cyclists will leave Manchester, Connecticut, on July 27, travel through New York, New Jersey and Delaware and join up with the cross-country team in Baltimore for the conclusion of the Bike Tour.

"Today, 33 million people throughout the United States live below the official government poverty line. That amounts to one out of every six children and one out of every ten families in America, which does not even include the millions more low-income people who are struggling daily to survive," said Mary Wright, CCHD Education Coordinator and Brake the Cycle of Poverty Bike Tour organizer. She added, "Rather than overwhelm us, these statistics about the number of poor people, as well as their personal stories, should call us to prayer, reflection and action. As we cycle across the country, we will spend time in the evenings with grass roots groups interested in learning more about the issues, talking about effective ways to permanently eliminate the effects of poverty and urging people to take action."

For more information about the Brake the Cycle of Poverty in America Bike Ride, and more detail on the route the cyclists will follow, visit www.brakethecycle.org or contact Mary Yerrick at 301-320-6888.

About the Catholic Campaign for Human Development: Established by the Catholic Bishops of the United States, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is one of the largest private funders of self-help programs initiated and led by low-income people in the United States. Committed to the permanent elimination of poverty and injustice in America, CCHD has offered $260 million in support to more than 4,000 programs nationwide that know no racial or religious boundaries - projects that help create jobs, improve neighborhoods and allow people to find a way out of poverty, not just for a day but for a lifetime. For more information about Poverty in America, please visit www.povertyusa.org or call CCHD at (800) 946-4243.

By Albert H. Lee
chtoday_editor@chtoday.com