Katy Walker - 2017 NOLA to Angola Bike Ride

NOLA to Angola is an annual three-day, 170-mile bicycle ride fundraiser. We ride from Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans to the Louisiana State Penitentiary (popularly known as Angola) in West Feliciana Parish. Each rider, myself included, raises money by soliciting sponsorships from family and friends (i.e. YOU). All funds raised support the Cornerstone Builders Bus Project, which sends free buses every month for family members to visit their incarcerated loved ones.

Mass incarceration has widespread and underappreciated costs--both material and emotional--for the families and children of individuals who are incarcerated. Chief among the material burdens families and loves ones must bear is the cost of transportation and communication. And more often than not, these financial demands are more than families can afford, which serves to further compound the negative consequences of incarceration on families’ economic stability, health, and well-being. A recent report by the Ella Baker Center (https://goo.gl/wzb8CS) found that the high cost of maintaining contact with incarcerated family members led more than one in three families (34%) into debt to pay for phone calls and visits alone. 

Cornerstone Builders Bus Project helps families facing these challenges by providing providing free monthly bus service for New Orleans families who have loved ones in Louisiana detention facilities. Given that NOLA to Angola is one of the primary funding sources for Cornerstone, fundraising around the ride is vital to its future success! So please, please considering donating. 

Thanks in advance for your support!

(Click here to read more about Cornerstone Builders Bus Service).