A Santa Barbara County man is riding his bicycle across California to raise awareness for abused and neglected children and the need for more advocate volunteers.
Aaron Pankratz, Associate Director of Court Appointed Special Advocates or CASA of Santa Barbara County, is cycling 588 miles in four days to send an important message.
"Child abuse is a community problem. It happens in our community. When the court gets involved, those kids become our kids, and I feel like it's an obligation of our community to step forward and do amazing things. You don't have to go out and ride your bike. You can volunteer and you can donate. It makes a huge difference for these kids," said Pankratz.
He started the bike ride on Friday in Santa Barbara and he’ll finish it on Monday afternoon at the State Capitol in Sacramento.
CASA hopes to raise $25,000.
For more information, visit http://sbcasa.org/breakthecycle.