People living in poverty, in poor housing conditions, is a nationwide problem and certainly not unheard of in Ripley County.
However, a group of folks on bicycles are riding 3,926 miles on a quest to try to help make a difference, one family or individual at a time.
The cyclists, who represent The Fuller Center For Housing, are on a cross-country ride from the Atlantic to the Pacific, a journey that began May 27 in La Jolla, Calif., and will end Aug. 5 in Wilmington, N.C.
They made a rest stop in Doniphan July 11 after a 95-mile ride from Willow Springs and were overnight guests of the Doniphan First Baptist Church congregation.
At this point in the route they had traveled roughly 2,600 miles.
The next morning, they were off again, this time headed to New Madrid, where they added 91 more miles to their itinerary.
Some go the distance, while others join up along the route and participate in only a segment or two, donating or raising money for the cause accordingly.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspects of their story is that each of the bikers who is participating in all 10 segments of the ride would have raised a minimum of $5,250 before setting off, and the average age of the bikers is 62.
The oldest, Bill Huxtable, is 71. (That’s because his 75-year-old co-rider didn’t come along on this particular trip). He raised $6,125 for this trip.
Huxtable spent 25 years raising money for the American Diabetes Association and 15 years fundraising for multiple sclerosis.
An avid cyclist, he was looking for an opportunity to do a cross-country ride.
“I didn’t just want to ride, though. I wanted it to be for a good purpose,” says Huxtable.
“I searched the Internet and found The Fuller Center, and it had a vibe I liked,” he says.
Huxtable’s wife, Rhoda makes the trips with him, serving as a volunteer driver.
“Rhoda does it all. She lays out our treats, hands out water, picks people up when needed, and is just there to help out.”
Cyclist John Fender said his “buddy, Dave” recruited him to join up with the Fuller bikers.
Like the others, he liked the concept of working with an organization that helps people who need it “by giving them a hand up, not a hand out,” he says.
They sometimes do assist in new home builds, but most of their work involves making homes more habitable.
“Mostly we do repairs, and unless the people we help are disabled, they get in and work with us,” says Fender.
Over the course of their 10-week adventure, the bikers have designated stops where they park their bikes and take up tool belts to work on building projects at Fuller Center for Housing local chapters.
Lucy Hughes, the media liaison for The Fuller Center, talks about the rewards of what they are doing.
“In Provo, Utah, we stopped to help an elderly man with no arms. The city was upset with him because of the appearance of his yard.
“We cleaned it up and painted his house. As we were working, some of the neighbors pitched in and helped,” she said.
Because of the bikers’ efforts, the community became more aware of why this need existed in their neighborhood. Awareness is a big part of what the bikers want to achieve.
“We know that it is usually harder to find volunteers to help within the community. That is why most people look to churches for help,” says Huxtable.
Each of the riders is a humanitarian who has discovered personal fulfillment in actually doing something about a problem that exists everywhere, but is seldom addressed.
Ride coordinator Neil Mullikin was, (in his previous life, before Fuller Center) a financial advisor. He says he is where he is today because, “God began asking me to do something different with my life.”
Mullikin says, “We will do six rides this season, and we change the route every year, which isn’t to say we never go back to the same place.”
He will participate in five of those rides.
This group had never been to Doniphan before, and each found the hills to be quite challenging. The last two riders arrived at the church at about 3:30 p.m., making excellent time considering the terrain.