On this day in 1986, millions of Americans lent a hand to the poor – literally and joined hands from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in a human chain that snaked through 16 states and the District of Columbia. The event was a fundraising extravaganza organized with the hopes of raising $50 million to help the poor. Each person in the line was asked to pay $10. The line started in New York City’s Battery Park with a 6-year-old homeless girl named Amy Sherwood and ended where the old cruise ship Queen Mary was docked in Long Beach, California.
Participants ranged from ordinary citizens to a collection of celebrities like Robin Williams and Oprah – even President Reagan interrupted his Sunday afternoon and held hands with White House staffers and their children. People also joined in from Alaska, Japan and South Korea.
– cbsnews.com
Photo Caption – Hands Across America at Eakins Oval along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Wikipedia