Ship Your Hopes into Space

The goal of the Letters of Hope 2007 Initiative is to send the hopes of children across the country into space.  Letters that tell of children’s wishes will be scanned and put on a disk to be sent on a NASA shuttle mission.

The concept is the brainchild of  St. Paul mail carrier Gary Fitch, inspired by an era of wars, terrorism, poverty, homelessness and natural disasters, according to a Letter of Hope 2007 website.  Fitch plans to leave on Memorial Day to bicycle from Seattle, Wash., to Washington, D.C., gathering letters along the way.

It’s not the first time Fitch will bicycle cross-country for a cause. He left from St. Paul on a bicycle for his 1989 trek to Washington, D.C., to present letters asking for additional support for children’s cancer research to George Bush the Elder. The idea grew after his recovery from serious injuries in a 1972 automobile accident, combined with a close cousin’s death of childhood leukemia. Grateful to be alive, Fitch wanted to help children with cancer grow to adulthood.

Fitch spoke Wednesday to the St. Paul City Council, where the city’s formal hopes and dreams were adopted and added to his mailbag. “This is my last ride. I’m 55 years old, but I’ve got enough to get this one done,