Last Friday, platinum selling, award-winning Word Records recording artist, Mark Schultz, took time out from his Across America benefit bike ride to be the special guest at the Klicks for Kids photo exhibit that features the artwork of 67 Kansas children currently waiting to be adopted. Hosted by the agency from where Mark was adopted as a child, The Kansas Children’s Service League, the event was held at the Meadowbrook Mall in Pittsburg, KS.

“Meeting these children, especially at this halfway point in the trip, was an amazing and tangible source of motivation and continued encouragement for me,” says Schultz. “Just seeing the faces of these kids, their personalities and their amazing gifts, is inspiring. I encourage those that are thinking about becoming a foster family and those that are thinking about becoming a forever family for one of these children, and children like these, to take a leap of faith and make a lifetime of difference for these kids.”

Mark Schultz is pictured with children whose artwork received special recognition at the Klicks for Kids photo exhibit hosted by the Kansas Children’s Service League

In addition to the nearly US$80,000 raised thus far through Mark’s bicycle trip across America, Schultz and the Fund are partnering together to raise more support for widows and orphans through an online auction. Items up for bid include a Nolan Ryan autographed baseball, four different guitars signed by Alan Jackson, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Brooks and Dunn, and Kenny Chesney, as well as many more autographed items from athletes and celebrities. The proceeds from the auction will go directly to support hands on work with orphans in the U.S. and abroad, adoption assistance for families bringing orphans home to a forever family, and for quality of life improvement for widows who are in distress. To make a bid on an item, visit http://markacrossamerica.org/auction.php.

On his way from California to New Hampshire, Schultz is posting daily video blogs documenting his Across America journey, as well as completing a daily 60-second update from the road that is being offered to radio stations across the country through Westar Media Group. To date, over 100 stations are using the updates to inform their listeners.

Schultz is also stopping along the way to perform concerts featuring music from his acclaimed, best-selling album, Broken & Beautiful. Stay tuned to YMZ for update on the tour. For more information about Schultz, visit his YMZ artist page.