Fundly Helps Bicyclists With a Cause

Would you venture to take a bicycle trip across your city? How about across the state? Would you travel across the country to promote your cause? What do online fundraising and traveling by bike have in common?

These are some interesting questions that Alaskan Brian Lyke and Michigan resident Nicole Gaunt have raised with their mission to travel from California to Maine with the hopes of bringing more attention to Free Hugs, a grass-roots program which promotes human empathy and connection in urban environments.

Lyke explains that, “Cities are scary, alienating places. Free Hugs tries to solve that problem. Throwing your arms around a smiling stranger feels good, and is a quick way to meet people. We picked this program to carry with us across the country because we need to bring that sense of community along with us. We hope that sharing that community across America will have a ripple effect, encouraging service and inspiring action against apathy and antipathy.”

Lyke and Gaunt came up with this unique and exciting journey while they were on a 40 mile bike ride in Alaska. They both have offers for summer jobs across the country and decided that a road trip was too expensive, a plane trip was too fast, and a bike trip would be the perfect way to experience an adventure while bringing attention to a worthy cause.

Along with grant writing and bargain shopping, Lyke and Gaunt have turned to online fundraising and have almost reached their $2,000 financial goal through using Fundly. “I found out about this website when my activist friend sent me a fundraising appeal. It was much better than the appeals she usually sent… Making an account on the website was easy, the fees were reasonable, and the platform robust. When the donations started pouring in, I was won over.

“I’ve worked in community organizing for five years. Fundraising is hard. It takes a lot of time, thought, talking, and follow-up that can be hard to juggle with life, work, and planning logistics on a 100 day expedition. Fundly’s suite of features made a well-run fundraising campaign happen for our little adventure,” states Lyke. So far this team has raised $1,936 of their $2,000 goal and started their journey on February 1.

To check out their webpage or donate, please go to http://fundly.com/akfreehugs and you can follow them on http://akfreehugs.tumblr.com/ as they update their blog regularly. We with these adventurists a safe and successful journey!