TORRINGTON – According to the NoKidHungry.org website, one in six children in the United State lives with hunger, and Angela Wood wanted to do something about that glaring statistic.

A truck driver by day, Wood saw kids sleeping on the streets and going hungry traveling through the larger cities, and that’s when she decided she wanted to make a difference but wasn’t sure how.

Wood came to a decision to combine her love of horses to bring awareness to the cause.

“What I’m doing is asking people to get involved in your communities. Get involved in what is going on in your communities to see if there is something you can do to help the children that are hungry,” Wood said. “Children should not be hungry in America.”

She originally set out to raise awareness with a cross country trip with her two horses – Star-Buck and Renegade – and buggy, but people started making donations. That’s when Wood decided to turn it into a fundraiser.

“You hear about children overseas being hungry and missions going over there. But, how about here in America? We need to take those missions to New York City where kids are starving in the streets,” Wood said. “What you hear a lot about is the parents who aren’t taking care of their children because they are on drugs and what have you. You never hear about the parents that have to make a choice while working their butts off whether to keep a roof over their child’s heads or feeding their child. They aren’t being lazy. They are on drugs. They just can’t make enough money in today’s society to feed their children.”

After some research, she came across NoKidHungry.org and all the money she raises will go to the organization.

“Everything I pull in, goes towards the kids,” Wood said.

Her journey started in Liberty, Ky., on Aug. 2, 2018. Wood traveled east to Sunset Beach, N.C., before turning around and heading back west. She hopes to eventually end up in Long Beach, Wash.

It has been slow going for Wood the last few days, encountering the recent rain and snow.

“I probably won’t get home until Aug. of 2020, but a lot of that depends on the weather,” Wood said. 

She hopes to raise $1 for every mile Wood travels.

As Wood was arriving in Torrington on the afternoon of Thursday, May 23, she was nearing 3,000 miles for her the cross-country journey. Wood has currently raised $3,445 for No Kid Hungry.

“I’m actually ahead which is awesome, but we need to keep that going,” Wood said.

Wood has a blog setup so people can track her progress and find ways to donate at http://challenge-america-equine-trek.com/.

“Just help. If you see a need, help,” Wood said. “Don’t look the other way and say it’s the government’s problem. It’s not. It’s our problem.”