SAN ANTONIO -- An acclaimed San Antonio athlete and coach is biking across the state to fundraise for the San Antonio nonprofit Ransomed Life.
- Journey is 1,100 miles long
- Starts in Beaumont, Texas
- End in El Paso, Texas
April Fricke is riding more than 1,100 miles along the I-10 corridor from Beaumont to El Paso, making pit stops along the way to shed light on the issue of sex trafficking.
"Me just cycling a 100 miles maybe wouldn't be a big deal. But me going across the state of Texas I think just brings awareness." -- cyclist April Fricke.
It's a two-week ride across the state, and Fricke is halfway done. Ransomed Life will receive donations from the ride. The nonprofit is a community for victims of sex trafficking.
"When girls come to Ransomed Life, they're angry, they're disappointed, they're upset. They've seen the worst that humanity has to offer. And so Ransomed Life is all about providing volunteers to help these girls walk through that recovery process," said Ransomed Life Executive Director Dawn Coleman.
Coleman said Fricke's offer to cycle for them was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.
"She's obviously very athletic and this is her passion, she loves to ride. And so when she offered to ride across Texas for us to raise awareness about trafficking in our area, and to raise funds, we jumped at the chance to support her in that," Coleman said.
Coleman said the girls they help are local. She said this is a problem not just happening halfway across the world.
"And that's one of the biggest misconceptions, this happens right in our backyard," Coleman said. "The girls that we work with at Ransomed Life are all local San Antonio area girls. We have girls from every school districts in town, so these are local girls from our area that we are helping."
A 2016 UT Austin study estimates 79,000 victims of sex trafficking in Texas are minors, and I-10 is one of the most highly-trafficked highways in the country, which is Fricke's motivation to keep cycling.
READ MORE | Full UT Study
"We cannot 100 percent stop what's happening. But I think if more girls and parents are aware of what's going on, it's going to help dramatically," Fricke said. "I'm able to do the challenge and I'm happy to do it and as long as the word is getting out there, I'm happy to do it."
If you'd like to donate to Fricke's Journey of Hope, visit the Randomed Life website.