17th Annual Paul Anderson Bike Ride Raises Funds and Awareness

Our annual fundraising Bike Ride was a great success! Every Summer for the past 16 years, the young men at our Home participate in a five-day bike ride in honor of our co-founder Paul Anderson. This week-long event is a way for these young men to share their journey with God and how they’ve had their lives changed by the Home, all while raising funds to further our mission.

This summer, five of the boys of the Home traveled over 350 miles by bicycle on routes along the eastern coastline of central Florida, with a home base in Flagler Beach. Donations to the 17th Paul Anderson Annual Bike Ride will help ensure that the Paul Anderson Youth Home can continue its mission of helping young men transform their lives.

This ride means a lot for everyone at Paul Anderson Youth Home, especially the young men who are putting forth the mental, spiritual and physical effort that it takes to complete such a strenuous ride. These young men are learning to overcome emotional, physical, and spiritual struggles during their time at the Home, and training and carrying out this ride helps show them that they’ve grown stronger and are continuing to fight for their second chance.

The event also commemorates a foundational moment in the history of Paul Anderson Youth Home. At its founding in 1961, former Olympic gold-medal winner and our co-founder, Paul Anderson, rode his bicycle 1,200 miles from Vidalia, Ga., to Omaha, Neb. He did this for the same reasons the boys do it this year, to raise funds and awareness of the mission to give troubled young men a second chance. Now more than 60 years later, the Paul Anderson Youth Home celebrates more than 1,400 lives changed through a process of recovery, restoration, and redemption.

“These young men have worked so hard to deal with their own personal struggles and this ride truly shows that,” said Glenda Anderson, co-founder of Paul Anderson Youth Home. “They work each day to grow their faith and learn how to become strong independent men. I’m looking forward to seeing these young men come back home to us after the bike ride and hear about how they feel more connected to Christ, Paul, and themselves.”

There is still time to donate to our largest fundraiser of the year. Simply text “BIKERIDE” to 71777 or click here. We thank you in advance for your generosity.