Emory Report

May 18, 1999

Volume 51, No. 31

Emory College graduate Austin sets out on cross-country bike trek On June 21 Emory College graduate Ellie Austin will begin a 10-week, 3,600-mile fundraising and community outreach bike ride sponsored by the Youth Action for Global Justice, or JustAct. Austin will be one of 80 bikers--her route spans from San Francisco to Washington-raising money for sustainable growth projects worldwide. On weekends, she and her fellow riders will participate in service projects in the communities where they spend the night. Austin already completed a 1,200-mile bike ride last summer, but the Bike Aid trip interested her specifically for its community interaction. "I wanted to give something back to the communities that we stop in," she said. "I know that may sound cheesy, but that's what I really missed in the ride last year." The biology and environmental studies major will be responsible for all her trip and transportation expenses. Each rider also must raise a minimum of $3,600-one dollar for each mile of the trip. Austin is about halfway to that goal, and as an incentive to donors pledging $36--a penny a mile--she will send postcards from the state of their choice as she passes through. After the trip Austin plans a year's service with AmeriCorps. She eventually hopes to find work as a business consultant for socially and environmentally responsible practices, a well-established field in Great Britain just gaining a foothold here in America. Those interested in pledging any tax-deductible amount to Austin's cause can send a check payable to "Bike Aid" in care of her at 3120 Tapps Turn, Bloomington, Ind., 47401, or directly to Bike Aid at 333 Valencia Street, Suite 101, San Francisco, Calif., 94103. Austin's name must appear on the check for her ride to be credited. --Deb Hammacher Return to May 18, 1999, contents page