Peace Corps experience drives man to raise funds 3/28/2009 9:34 PM
By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
Drew Marinelli left the Peace Corps in December after two years in Niger, West Africa, but he retains his concern for the hunger faced daily by his friends in Niger and in other third-world nations.
The son of Ken and Sharon Marinelli of Aiken, Marinelli, 26, will leave Key West, Fla., Wednesday for a 6,000-mile bicycle trip across the United States, hoping to raise awareness for the critical need for food to alleviate the hunger that affects millions of people.
Marinelli's initial sponsors are the four Rotary clubs in Aiken County and others in Batesburg and Charlotte, N.C. He seeks to raise funds through his bike ride through tax-deductible donations to the Friends of the World Food Program.
He's especially grateful to Lyn Kenney, a Rotary Club of Aiken member who has spearheaded sponsorship efforts after meeting Marinelli a few months ago.
"He's a great individual with a real passion," said Kenney. "Rotary is a natural way to help him."
On his new website, www.onemanonebikeonefight.com, Marinelli said one thing stood out from his time spent in Africa - "how normal it was for people to be hungry and how necessary it was people to be accustomed to living a perpetual state of hunger and malnourishment," he said. "So I chose this cause and this fight."
Marinelli will be easy to spot during his journey: He stands at 6-foot, 9-inches tall. He played basketball for T.L Hanna High School in Anderson, as well as football and track. He had scholarship offers to play football but chose to concentrate on a biological sciences degree at the University of South Carolina.
His venture into the Peace Corps as a natural resource management volunteer came unexpectedly after a friend mentioned the rewards of previously living overseas. In January 2007, Marinelli arrived in Niger, one of the world's poorest countries where 80 percent of the land is composed of the Sahara Desert.
Marinelli helped with farming and tree planting, looking for ways to show the residents improved practices. With so many of the men working in Nigeria, he participated with women's groups to gain access to the area's one clean well with an aquifer serving as the water source.
It took Marinelli several months to learn the language and feel comfortable in listening and participating in conversations. After that, he became fully assimilated into the community, experiencing the extreme hard work and the mundane and often perilous existence that the people of Bilandao had known throughout their lives.
"It was hard to leave the village," Marinelli said. "I was really close to the chief's wife, who headed the women's group."
The World Food Program is coordinated through the United Nations. Its "Friends" organization provides advocacy, outreach and fundraising, according to its website. Marinelli plans to visit schools and other youth organizations during his five- to six-month trip and meet with Rotary clubs, as well.
Before he left Aiken, he met with several local Rotary members, including club presidents Carmen Landy of Aiken Sunrise, Dr. Tom Hallman of Rotary Club of Aiken, Peter Stein of Aiken South and Delynn Barnes of the Twin Cities club in Batesburg.
"Drew's focus on international hunger allows local clubs to participate in a major project," said Hallman. "He brings great energy and commitment, and that makes it all the more special."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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Comment Title:
Drew, I am so proud of you - not many people would take on such an arduous trip. Please raise lots of money for world Hunger - and be safe. As you have told me before, if everyone who hears about this gives just one dollar that would feed the Children for 1 year. Your Grandmother
Posted by: next door neighbor On: 3/29/2009
Comment Title: One man........
How wonderful that a single individual is striving for such a worthwhile goal! Good Luck young man!! And I will be glad to donate as I hope others will..........even a tiny bit will surely help!
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