Mac Barnes by Savannah Saunders ‘11
Hendrix senior Mac Barnes has a long road ahead of him after graduation in May – 4,161 miles, to be exact.
Barnes, an economics major from Little Rock, will ride his bike from Charleston, S.C., to Santa Cruz, Calif., covering about70 miles every day during the two and a half month trip.
Along the way, he and others from around the country will help build affordable housing in the communities they ride through as part of Bike and Build 2011.
In the middle of the trip, Barnes and his troop will stop in Colorado Springs, Colo. to build an entire house.
“It’s called ‘blitz building’ … In the other towns, we will be building on top of what other groups have built, but this one will be ours.”
Barnes has always been involved with cycling one way or another.
“I go mountain-biking with Dr. Stanley and Dr. Scott (Hendrix economics professors) pretty often,” he said. “And I’ve been learning how to fix and assemble bikes as I go … It’s addicting.”
A four-year member of the men’s soccer team at Hendrix, he stayed in post-season shape by cycling.
He also took an interest in Spanish at Hendrix and studied abroad for six months in Pamplona and Madrid, where he took three economics courses and one Spanish course, “which happened to be the most difficult,” he said.
Barnes plans to attend University of Arkansas at Little Rock next fall to get his Masters of Business Administration.
The cross country trip calls for its participants to raise $4,000 dollars, $500 of which is automatically donated to a charity of one’s choice. Barnes has chosen to donate to Conway’s Habitat for Humanity. Through donations given by friends, family, professors, and alumni, Barnes has almost met his goal, with $1,500 to raise before embarking on the open road.
For Barnes, the journey is especially unique because of the awareness they spread about addressing the problem of homelessness in America.
Bike and Build participants will meet with local residents in the hundreds of communities they visit, giving presentations about housing issues, as well as working with the local housing groups to build affordable homes.
“Half the job is spreading the word about affordable housing,” he said.
He leaves May 23 and will arrive in Santa Cruz on August 11.
For more information about Bike and Build, visit http://www.bikeandbuild.org/donate
Savannah Saunders is a senior English major (with Creative Writing emphasis) and field hockey player from San Diego, Calif. She is a student writer in the Office of College Relations.