Pilgrimage to Publix ready to roll! With the 200-mile trek from Immokalee to Publix corporate headquarters in Lakeland just around the corner, bike tour members practice earlier this week in Naples. (photo Naples Daily News)

Plus… Check out the final photo report from the Trader Joe’s Northeast Tour!

A special team of bike messengers is ready to hit the road this Saturday morning in Ft. Myers. Their destination: Publix corporate headquarters, Lakeland, Florida.Their mission: To deliver an invitation from farmworkers in Immokalee to Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw asking Mr. Crenshaw to visit Immokalee in person, to walk with workers in the streets of their community, and to learn first-hand about farmworker poverty and why it is so crucial that Publix participate in the Fair Food Program. If you’d like to learn more about the upcoming “Pilgrimage to Publix,” visit the Interfaith Action website today for all the details, including the day-by-day itinerary and schedule of major events along the route. You can also click on the links below to read some of the great coverage of the tour:

• Naples Daily News
• Ft. Myers News-Press Op/Ed by Rabbi Bruce Diamond
• Lakeland Ledger
• Brian McLaren’s blog

Last week more than a dozen local clergy gathered in the sanctuary of Naples United Church of Christ to pray for the safety of the riders as well as for Mr. Crenshaw. They, like Brian McLaren in a great new opinion piece that ran in Huffington Post today (“Dirty Tomatoes: A Spiritual and Dietary Proposal), prayed that Publix’s rejection of the Fair Food program is due to a deep disconnect between the company’s public relations department and its top decision maker:

“I like Publix. I think they are a good and decent company — apart from their dirty tomatoes. Perhaps their CEO, Ed Crenshaw, doesn’t fully understand what’s being requested. Perhaps the Public Relations department has shielded him from CIW’s requests. That’s why we decided to go into a Publix to pray: We wanted to do our part to help the message get through.” read more

Interestingly, as revealed in the company’s hometown paper, the Lakeland Ledger, Publix has indicated that Mr. Crenshaw is yet undecided about whether to accept the CIW’s invitation to Immokalee:

“Publix spokeswoman Shannon Patten said Crenshaw is aware of the coalition’s plans, but it’s not clear if Crenshaw would accept the invitation to visit Immokalee.

In the meantime, the bicycle delegation will continue to solicit prayers for Mr. Crenshaw at every stop of their ride, as well as for their own safety along the road, with the hope that on September 6th, the first workday back after Labor Day weekend, Publix’s CEO will exhibit the kind of leadership that made his grandfather so well-known and well-loved, leadership captured in the motto: “Never let making a profit stand in the way of doing the right thing.”

And finally… The Trader Joe’s Northeast Tour wrapped up last week with actions in Portland, Maine, and Northampton, Mass. Click here to see the exciting report!