NJ brothers start cross-country trek to support restaurant workers

Two New Jersey mixologist brothers are raising the bar with a fundraising walk starting on the Asbury Park boardwalk Saturday morning that won’t stop until they get to the Redwood Forest outside of San Francisco.

Aiden and Louis Ardine, of Middletown, N.J., saw how hard the COVID-driven lockdowns and slow reopening hurt their colleagues in the bar and restaurant industry over the past year, and came up with a plan to give something back, their website explains. They dubbed the idea, “Walking America.” Aiden, 28, and Louis, 27, both avid distance runners with a fondness for hiking and camping, mapped out a 3,147-mile route that will take them through 11 states on their way across the country. They have friends and family along the way, but they told their hometown paper, The Two River Times, that they will also rely on strangers they meet on their journey. They estimate they will go about 20 miles per day, which would make the trip about five months long.