On September 12, Rich Dixon will embark on a 1500-mile trike ride to help Convoy of Hope provide nutritious meals for impoverished children around the globe. Rich’s Ride: 1500 miles for Hope will span the U.S. from north to south along the Mississippi River corridor.

Paralyzed below the chest by an accident more than two decades ago, Dixon, 60, will complete the ride on a cycle powered by his hands.

Learn how easy it is to make a donation for each mile of Rich’s ride.

“One minute I was on the ladder and the next thing I knew I was laying on my back looking up at a paramedic,” recalls Dixon of the accident. “I don’t remember anything about the fall.”

Several hours in the emergency room later, the devastating diagnosis came back; the fall had shattered three of Dixon’s vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord. He was 36.

Dixon withdrew into a dark depression after the accident until his friends encouraged him to try a hand cycle. Although he had no interest, he finally relented just “to shut them up.”

“The first time out was horrible,” says Dixon. “I could hardly move it down the block and back.” But over time he developed endurance.

In the summer of 1999 Dixon rode 1,000 miles on the bike trails around his Ft. Collins, Colo., home. When a friend was diagnosed with lung cancer five years later, Dixon rode 1250 miles to raise money for his friend’s medical expenses.

Help Rich make each mile count for kids.

Through Convoy of Hope’s current matching challenge campaign, gifts in honor of Rich’s Ride: 1500 miles for Hope will be matched 100 percent to double their impact to help the poor and suffering.

Dixon expects the ride to take approximately two months and plans to book speaking engagements along the route.