Riding for Change
Local Resident is Raising Charitable Funds Through Bicycling
Writer / Matt Keating
Photography Provided
Dan Farrell, safety manager for Frontier Communications, has turned his love for bicycling into a way to help the Faith in Deeds Children’s Home, an orphanage in India.
“I have a passion for bicycling, and a passion for helping other people, and I’ve found a great way to do both,” Farrell says.
Farrell, 74, approached Gerald Stanley, co-founder and managing partner at Imavex, about riding his bike to raise money for a good cause.
“Gerald asked me if I could ride 8,428 miles on my bike in Indiana for the Faith in Deeds orphanage,” Farrell says. “The reason I would ride that amount of miles is that there are 8,428 miles between Fishers and Andhra Pradesh in India, where the Faith in Deeds orphanage is located. The number of miles I ride later became a much bigger goal of 25,000 miles – the approximate circumference of Earth.”
Farrell says he had ridden 21,455 miles by July 13.
“I decided to keep on riding to raise money for Faith in Deeds,” Farrell says. “I ride 50 to 70 miles a day, rain or shine, 250 miles a week, and 1,000 miles a month.”
Farrell says he had a lot of time to ride his bike last fall.
“My bike is a stainless-steel, light touring bike and it’s very comfortable,” he says. “I had a lot of vacation time at work, so I would take a half day off and ride my bike to get more miles in. I use the time on my bike to pray. I love that it is for such a great cause. Faith in Deeds really needs a lot of help. The goal is to raise money to expand the facility, to accommodate more people.”
Farrell says Faith in Deeds rescues orphaned and abandoned children from India’s slums, and provides a safe and loving home for them. The children have suffered through neglect and child labor.
Faith in Deeds provides healthy food, medical care, education and other opportunities.
“These kids have been abused and abandoned, but they still have a positive attitude about so many things,” Farrell says. “They have also lived through severe poverty and the COVID pandemic, but they are engaged with their community and still take care of their spiritual needs.”
Farrell has also had Zoom calls with those at the orphanage.
“It keeps me going to have interaction with the staff and the kids at the orphanage,” he says. “It reminds me why I need to keep going. So far we have raised over $6,400.”
Farrell credits Stanley and Imavex for doing important work with Faith in Deeds.
“Gerald Stanley has been very committed to the organization, and he also belongs to Hands of Hope, a charity based in the Fishers and Noblesville area,” Farrell says.
Farrell adds that Hands of Hope teams with multiple children’s homes around the world, including Faith in Deeds.
Farrell plans to keep riding to raise money for the orphanage.
“It’s a win-win situation,” he says. “It’s very positive for the orphanage and I get to keep exercising for such a worthy cause.”
To make a donation to Farrell’s fundraising campaign, visit oneorange.org/ride-the-world.
To learn more about Faith in Deeds, go to faithindeeds.org.
