VERO BEACH — Next March, when Rev. Scott Alexander sets out on his cross-country bike ride to raise funds to combat hunger, Vero Beach will be following his progress on a website, www.TheRideToBeatHunger.org donated and designed by a Vero Beach marketing firm, The Alexander Group, whose key player is Vero Beach resident Earle Beasley.
Since founding his company in 1972, Beasley established a unique tradition for The Alexander Group – selecting an important “cause” each year and donating the marketing services “they would otherwise never be able to afford.” For 2012, that cause is The Ride to Beat Hunger.
Reverend Alexander’s 3,300 mile bike trek caught Beasley’s attention from the outset. “Scott Alexander recognized the severity of the hunger problem, both at home and beyond, and decided to seek help from people in our community who are able to make a difference. When I heard about his plan, I knew I had to help.”
Rev. Scott W. Alexander, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach will embark on a demanding month-long, 3,300, 115 mile-a-day bike ride across America to beat hunger. Beginning on Sunday April 22, 2012 (by dipping his bike’s rear wheel in the waters of the Pacific Ocean at Costa Mesa, California) and ending to a rally at Waldo’s located inside the historic Driftwood Resort on Vero’s beach Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 5 p.m. (by dipping his bike’s front wheel in the Atlantic), he will ride all 3,300 miles, challenging organizations and individuals of the Vero Beach community to donate money per mile to help beat hunger…both locally and globally. Some personal friends and supporters will join him for the last four days of the ride (350 miles), “bringing him home” from Savannah, Georgia to Vero Beach. No doubt this ride will challenge him physically, emotionally and spiritually but as an avid cyclist, he is currently training for the event, riding 30-40 miles each day and swimming 4 to 5 days a week in order to make this significant contribution to helping to end hunger.
The goal is to raise a minimum net of $50,000 to be split evenly between the Harvest Food and Outreach Center of Vero Beach (which distributes low cost food locally to those in need) and for Stop Hunger Now (an established international organization which packages millions of sample meal packets to be distributed around the world, primarily through school feeding programs in hunger-stricken regions of the world). The Stop Hunger Now organization will send a “meal packet assembly team and materials” to Vero Beach, where organized volunteers of all ages in a one day effort, on June 9, 2012, to help in the creation of meal packets for hundreds of thousands hungry children.
The committee formed, to assist Rev. Alexander in meeting his goals, has launched a sponsorship campaign, thoroughly explained on the website, which encompasses a variety of ways the community, local businesses and organizations and can participate. For instance, a category for Day Sponsorships has been established for each of the days of the trip, following the cities and states Alexander’s bicycle route takes. Members of the Treasure Coast community who want to partner with Rev. Alexander in the project can also donate per mile to help him reach his $50,000 goal. A pledge of a dollar a mile will raise $3,300, 10 cents a mile will raise $330, a nickel per mile pledge will contribute $165, and a penny a mile will raise $33 toward the goal. A variety of business sponsorships have also being developed. Donations to The Ride To Beat Hunger are tax-deductible and can be made out to Ride to Beat Hunger and can be sent to P.O. Box 650126, Vero Beach, FL 32965. An account has been activated at Grand Bank & Trust in Vero Beach.
Beasley is concerned about the number of volunteers our community must recruit to assure the success of The Ride To Beat Hunger. “The Ride and all the events surrounding it will require hundreds of volunteers and supporters,” Beasley observes. “I hope every family, church, civic club, neighborhood group, garden club – you name it – will step up and help.”
Where can people begin if they want to get involved? Simply call (772)494-5009 or toll free (855)494-5009 or visit the website: www.TheRideToBeatHunger.org.”
