A bicycling pastor from Seattle is traveling through Salt Lake City this week as part of a nationwide journey to raise money and awareness on the plight of impoverished children in Haiti.
Jesse Johnson embarked on a 4,000 mile journey July 15 when he rolled out of the Emerald City en route to Miami on a trip he expects will last 40 days. His journey brought him to Brigham City on Saturday. He will be in Salt Lake City on Monday and off to Duchesne the next day.
Johnson became involved with helping children in Haiti after traveling there with a friend who was adopting a Haitian child.
"While I was there, I was honestly very, very shocked at what I saw," he said. "Thousands of children living on the streets by themselves . . . no food . . . 7-, 8- and 9-year-old prostitutes."
Johnson, a former pastor in both St. Louis and Seattle who had started several inner-city programs for at-risk juveniles, started the Haiti Kids Foundation.
He had traveled to other poverty-stricken nations. But he said Haitian children are particularly afflicted by the poverty there.
To help raise money to be donated to orphanages in Haiti, Johnson came up with the idea this year of his cross-country trek. His plan is to ride an average of 130 miles a day, although the actual distance will be a little less through the mountain states.
In fact, the Pioneer Day holiday forced Johnson to make small adjustments to his schedule because he couldn't ride through Salt Lake City that day. To make up for it, Johnson said he'll have to cross the entire Rocky Mountains in just four days.
"That's a really big challenge," he said. "That's going to be pretty incredible. I know I can do it."
But Salt Lake City is also where Johnson has received more support than any city other than Miami, where the population of Haitian refugees is highest.
"A ton of people have contacted us from Salt Lake," he said.
People who want to join Johnson on his ride through Salt Lake and Utah have been contacting him regularly, he said.
Johnson is spending 33 days of his trip actually cycling. He is using each Sunday as a day of rest, and is taking an extra resting day in Missouri. His goal is to raise $1 million, all to be donated to Haitian orphanages.
"The orphanages, we feel, are the best way to give these kids a quality future," he said.
The idea to bike across America seemed "logical" to Johnson since it was just a matter of combining two of his passions.
"I've been impressed at the challenges of these kids on the streets and what they overcome to live on the streets. These kids live among piles of garbage," he said. "I love challenges. I really love challenges. I try to find challenging things and overcome them.
More information about Johnson's journey and information about donations can be found at www.bikeforhaitikids.org.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com