Now entering its 26th year, the Habitat 500 is a bicycle ride (not race) and fundraiser that covers 500 miles over the course of 7 days (an average of 71 miles per day). Each rider raises funds from family, friends, businesses, and church groups and designates the Habitat for Humanity affiliates they wish to support (both locally and around the world). This ride is coordinated and hosted by Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota.

The ride has two options: full week and three-day. We limit participation to 135 riders. Each full week rider is required to raise a minimum of $1,000, but the average amount raised is over $2,710 per rider. 3-day riders must raise at least $700.

A key component of the ride is to raise awareness about the need for decent, safe, affordable housing. In this regard, we are in contact with all forms of media to generate coverage and we find the ride is a very attractive story for newspapers, radio, tv, cable, etc. – we bring a lot of excitement wherever we go.