Tour De Franklin Set To Return As In-Person Ride

The organizers of the annual Tour de Franklin charity bike ride announced January 24 that they are planning to hold the 2022 ride in-person on April 24.

The starting point for the ride, which benefits the Franklin Food Bank, will be at Franklin High School.

The Tour de Franklin is the Food Bank’s largest annual fundraising event and in past years has attracted up to 800 cyclists. For the past two years it was an individual ride as a safety precaution in the pandemic. 

In 2022, the Tour de Franklin plans to return to a single day with seven different rides, bringing cyclists and the community together to fight local hunger. 

“We’re excited to bring back the Tour de Franklin Charity Bike Ride as a single day, in-person event,” Lisa Frey, the ride’s chairperson, said in a press release. “The Tour de Franklin is not only the largest fundraising event for the Food Bank, it is also a community tradition with strong comradery among the participants and volunteers.”

“Of course, community safety is a paramount concern, and we will carefully watch and follow all CDC guidelines as we plan the Tour,” Frey said in the release.

Now in its 33^rd consecutive year, the Tour de Franklin started with humble beginnings in 1989 when a group of cyclists raised $1,500 for the Franklin Food Bank.  Since then, the event has grown into a Spring tradition with rides ranging from 62 miles to under 5 miles along the scenic D&R Canal to raise up to $80,000 in a single day for the Franklin Food Bank. 

This funding is critical to the Food Bank’s operations. Many families were abruptly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and turned to the Food Bank for assistance, and in 2020 and 2021 the number of families the Franklin Food Bank helped more than doubled, from 1,800 families in 2019 to over 4,500 in 2020 and 3,800 in 2021. 

The Food Bank’s mission is to serve the food needs of the local community in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. In support of that mission the Food Bank remained open throughout the duration of the pandemic, and is working to reestablish its innovative Client Choice Program for recipients to choose food according to their individual needs. 

To learn more about the Franklin Food Bank, visit franklinfoodbank.org and to register for the Tour de Franklin visit Tour de Franklin. The Tour also has a Facebook page for current information.

Your Thoughts

comments