Our History
Our History
Discover how Pan Florida Challenge has grown from 4 local cyclists in Southwest Florida on a mission to a well known cancer bike ride featuring double century, century rides and other distances for riders of all levels.
Our roots date back to the fall of 2014 when four local cyclists rode 360 miles in a relay across Florida to provide 134,000 meals for children in Haiti through the non-profit organization, Help for Haiti. One of these riders was founder and chairman, Ed Mullen. The ride provoked Mullen to find a solution for the hunger epidemic happening right here in Florida. The solution was the beginning of Pan-Florida Challenge — an organization dedicated to the mission of feeding food insecure children throughout the community.
Six years later, Pan-Florida Challenge and the Pan-Florida Challenge Board of Directors, began to look beyond just feeding hungry children. Their hope was to address its potential health repercussions — including life-threatening diseases like cancer — and implement preventive strategies.
Delving into scientific research and professional case studies, Pan-Florida Challenge found a proven link between a lack of nutrition, or poor nutrition, and an increased risk of developing cancer.
Today, Pan-Florida Challenge partners with Moffitt Cancer Center and local cancer organizations to fund cancer prevention research, education, and patient support. Our partnerships with elementary schools remain an important component, as we continue to provide our Power Packs to 2,500 undernourished children throughout Florida every Friday.
Pan-Florida Challenge is currently supported by more than 300 volunteers, 50 sponsors, 1,400 donors, and 300 bike riders. To date, the organization has provided more than six million meals to children in need.