N.J. brothers traveling cross country by foot to aid restaurant workers step through Pittsburgh
Aiden and Louis Ardine have been walking an average of 25 miles a day.
They plan to reach their destination in five months.
Yes. Five. Months.
The Red Bank, N.J. brothers are on a 3,000-plus mile trek across the U.S. What’s fueling their journey is food — literally and figuratively.
On May 1, they began putting one foot in front of the other to raise awareness and funds for restaurant workers whose lives have been impacted by the pandemic.
The route
Their route began on the beach at Asbury Park, N.J., and is scheduled to conclude at the edge of the Redwood National Forest outside of San Francisco, Calif.
They will walk through eleven states, including Pennsylvania. The brothers arrived in Pittsburgh late Thursday. They attended the Bloomfield Saturday Market and plan is to speak with employees from local restaurants to learn more about the effect the pandemic has had in Pittsburgh.
“We know we can do this,” said Aiden Ardine, as he sat outside PNC Park on the North Side with his girlfriend Hope Roselle, and brother on Friday. “Some people take it for granted they can just call a restaurant and get whatever food they want made for them. This pandemic was unexpected. And there is no playbook on how to get through it. Restaurants are just trying to survive. We have to help them.”
Money tally
Their goal is to raise $30,000, which they say roughly calculates to $10 a mile, or the average cost of lunch for most Americans, for the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting those working in the service industry.
They’ve raised $20,000.
“We’ve had countless restaurant worker volunteers going to great lengths to support our mission over the past three years, but the Ardine brothers are literally walking the walk toward a better future for everyone in our community, and we are thankful for all of the folks they encounter who help them reach their goal,” said Kiki Louya, executive director of the foundation via email.
People can donate here.
Aiden Ardine, 28, was a bartender and manager, and Louis Ardine, 27, was a bar back at Bond Street Bar in Asbury Park. They were laid off in 2020. At the end of last year, with the covid-19 cases rising they didn’t return to their jobs and found work doing landscaping and snow removal and working at a coffee shop.
“Service industry workers were finding it impossible to get unemployment benefits, or were forced to go to work every day, risking their health, once restaurants started reopening,” Aiden Ardine said. “The food industry is a resilient industry. Despite their efforts, we know some restaurants didn’t make it because of the pandemic. We want to make sure others don’t have to close permanently.”
The brothers are covering their own costs, camping some nights, staying with friends and family members, and at times sleeping in hotels.
On Tuesday, they will head towards Ohio, and then Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, where their sister Audrey lives, Utah, Nevada and California. Their sister, Audrey lives in Denver, Colo..
The idea to do this came in December when they drove with their dad to see his mother, Alice, who was critically ill in California. Aiden Ardine asked his brother about walking across the country to raise money for restaurant workers. Louis Ardine said he would do it if his brother wrote a book about it. Louis Ardine is an artist and may provide illustrations. They are documenting the journey on Instagram and this website.
Mapping out the course
Aiden Ardine has been mapping out the course via GPS. They also ask people they’ve met for shortcuts. Brothers Paul and Mark Shots who they met between Fort Littleton and Breezewood gave them a better route and also water.
“As we’ve been walking people are gravitating to us,” Aiden Ardine said. “They ask what we are doing. We’ve met some pretty incredible people.”
“We meet people and the next day they sometimes drive by and still see us walking and they beep to us,” Louis Ardine said. “We are walking the same road sometimes for several days so we sometimes see the same people and they recognize us. It’s pretty cool.”
Their conversations include everything from their goals for this project to how to be better people. They’ve had their moments but for the most part have gotten along, they said.
They carry bright knapsacks and wear bold colors. They haven’t walked at night but plan to once they reach the desert. Food includes nutritional supplements, instant coffee, peanut butter sandwiches, lots of water and occasionally a Dr. Pepper. They try to have a hot meal every other day.
They found themselves in the middle of a few thunderstorms and anticipate steamy temperatures as they head west.
“Cars are our biggest hazard,” Louis Ardine said.
They were on an 11-day stretch heading into Pittsburgh.
The brothers said they’ve been fortunate because they have some savings. Aiden Ardine moved in with their father and Louis Ardine lives with their mother, Robin Gunn.
Roselle, 26, met up with the brothers in Pittsburgh for support. She and Aiden Ardine met working in a restaurant.
“This is something he and his brother wanted to do,” she said. “It’s important. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Every step is making a difference.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.