Hands Across America
The Event A benefit to fight hunger and
homelessness
Date May 25, 1986
Place From Long Beach, California, to New York
City
During the 1980’s, many major charity events were held to
address social problems around the world. Hands Across
America was one such event, and it raised awareness among
the American public about two important social issues.
Hands Across America was a charity event staged on
May 25, 1986, in which millions of people held
hands to form a human chain across the United
States from Long Beach, California, to Battery Park
in Manhattan. The project was organized by Ken
Kragen, a musician manager. Kragen was also instru-
mental in organizing the USA for Africa project,
which featured many famous musicians singing the
song “We Are the World,” recorded to raise money
for famine in Africa. Unlike Kragen’s previous ven-
ture, the Hands Across America project was a domes-
tic project, focused on fighting hunger and home-
lessness in the United States.
Participants in the event were asked to donate ten
dollars to the cause, and prior to the event organizers
estimated that it would take six million people to
complete the chain, bringing the total expected con-
tributions to $60 million. In addition, Citibank and
the Coca-Cola Company donated a combined $8 mil-
lion to the effort. On the afternoon of the event, at ex-
actly 3:00p.m.eastern standard time, all participants
sang the songs “America the Beautiful” and “Hands
Across America.” The latter song had been written
specifically for the occasion. Participating at various
points along the chain were numerous high-profile
celebrities, including Liza Minelli and Gregory Hines
in New York City, President Ronald Reagan at the
White House in Washington, D.C., Kathleen Turner
in St. Louis, Kenny Rogers in Amarillo, Texas, and
Richard Dreyfuss in Santa Monica, California.The Eighties in America Hands Across America 441
Members of the Hands Across America chain link hands in Santa Monica, California, on May 25, 1986.(AP/Wide World Photos)