What’s ‘Bachelor’ and Indiana native Ben Higgins been up to since the finale?
WINONA LAKE, Ind. (WANE) “Bachelor” famous Ben Higgins was in his hometown this week and took time Saturday to support a special race with an organization he’s been involved with since high school. Higgins’ season of “The Bachelor” wrapped up recently, when the Warsaw native gave a final rose to contestant Lauren B.
Higgins participated in the World Compassion Network’s Run For Hunger. It brought an estimated 800 people to Winona Lake for a 5K run.
World Compassion Network (WCN) started the fundraiser event about six years ago to help the Warsaw community. WCN is a disaster relief and missions organization, but as event organizer Josh Gill explained,
“The reality is we’re here trying to promote these other organizations. They are the ones that are down in the trenches, doing the work, helping the needy that are right here. So, for us, that’s what this event is about. While it’s a World Compassion event, the reality is we’re raising all that money simply to give it away.”
Gill said 100 percent of the proceeds go to help churches and organizations in the community that help fight poverty and hunger. According to WCN’s website, the event has raised more than $51,000 since it started.
“Before Ben was ‘The Bachelor,’ Ben was a high school kid in 2007 who came on a mission trip with World Compassion Network to Honduras,” Gill said.
“I remember Ben, he used to come down and help us load boxes in the warehouse for containers going [there],” Gill said.
Higgins said there was a moment that happened on the trip that changed his world view, “it might be one of the things that’s changed my world view the most,” he said.
Higgins described the situation, saying he was playing soccer in Honduras when his group had to leave. Before the bus pulled out, “these kids were grabbing on to [our] legs and arms and yelling ‘don’t leave, don’t leave…’ I was like, ‘this is weird, they don’t know me, we’ve only been down here a couple hours,’ and [a friend] said, ‘for you, this is just another really cool experience, right? It’s really fun to see these kids and play with these kids, but for these kids, they’ll remember this forever. This day changed their life.”
“At that moment it gave the gravity of just how important our purpose and just our presence was, and ever since then, my heart for Honduras, and really my heart for those people that just need a little lovin’ has continued.”
Higgins spent the morning taking photos and chatting with the community.