Fundraiser aimed at connecting prisoners with their families
The Nola to Angola cyclist fundraiser saw the largest field of riders in the event’s five-year existence, with more than 50 bike enthusiests raising close to $30,000 for the Cornerstone Builder’s Bus Project last week.
The Cornerstone Project, founded by Minister Leo Jackson in 2007, sends free buses every month to prisons throughout the state. The intention is to keep families connected across great distances and the barriers of incarceration.
Those 55 passenger buses cost roughly $1,000 each, making the fundraising project something that can go a long way to expanding the Cornerstone service.
“Louisiana is the state with the highest rate of incarceration in our country, which has the highest incarceration rate in the world,” said Destrehan’s Russell Moran, who rode in and helped organize the Nola to Angola ride this year. “We see a lot of people here are affected by it. When people go to prison, it doesn’t just affect them, but if affects their families and communities.”
Moran said the Cornerstone project provides a big lift to families who might not otherwise be able to afford chances to see their loved ones.
“The financial burden on family members (who look to keep contact with an incarcerated relative) is really not feasible for many of them.”
Likewise, Moran and others behind Nola to Angola feel it is just as important to the rehabilitation process.
“They don’t feel forgotten,” he said. “It allows them to have a support group.”
Jackson said he believes “the more we can keep the family intact, the more we can affect positive change.”
“We want to keep lines of communication open between prisoners and their families.”
Likewise, for those who will never be parolled out — it is estimated that as many as 90 percent of the 5,000 inmates at Angola will die there. To date, Cornerstone has brought over 3,400 individuals to visit a family member who is imprisoned in Louisiana.
The ride began outside of New Orleans Municipal Court on South Broad with a press conference featuring councilmember Jason Williams, founding members of the Black Youth Project (BYP100 Nola), Jackson, Gahiji Barrow from the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) and representatives from Nola to Angola.
The 50-plus riders represented the highest number in the event’s five-year history. In 2011, the first year of the ride, 25 cyclists participated.
A year later, the number grew to 34, and it has climbed higher ever since.
“From what I understand, this was the smoothest year yet in terms of how everything went,” Moran said.
He also said that meeting people who are able to see their loved ones, in part, because of the rider’s efforts has been a wonderful reward.
“To hear people express that gratitude and tell you they’re so, so thankful, it’s incredibly heartwarming,” Moran said.
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