Dave was raised in New Jersey, went to Bethany College in West Virginia, and is now a three-wheel Mercy Pedaler. He is retired from a 30 year career in mental health direct service, administration and advocacy for several local and statewide organizations.
Twice a week Dave picks up his tricycle from the Mercy Pedalers’ storage locker and does a five mile loop on Sacramento’s South Side. David loads the rear of the tricycle and his backpack with breakfast burritos that he purchases at McDonalds along with water, socks, energy bars, hygiene items and other donated goods. To Sister Libby and others he is known as “Burrito Dave,” appreciated by all of the hungry and homeless on the streets who receive his care.
Dave believes that being a Mercy Pedaler is more than simply providing the people he meets with resources and some basic needs. For Dave it is about being present, developing trust, and letting folks know that they matter. As he puts it, “Volunteering with Mercy Pedalers twice a week is truly a privilege, and I am a firm believer in the old Phil Ochs song lyric ‘there but for fortune go you or I.’”
