Hands Across America was a public fundraising event on Sunday, May 25, 1986, in which approximately 5 to 6.5 million people held hands for fifteen minutes in an attempt to form a continuous human chain across the contiguous United States. Despite the claimed intent, there was never any realistic chance of forming an unbroken human chain from coast to coast, as hundreds of miles of low-population areas along the route through the vast rural Midwest and Desert Southwest would have required hundreds of thousands of volunteers and millions of dollars in transportation, provision and coordination costs to keep the chain intact. Regardless, the event was declared a major success by the participants, particularly in larger urban areas where there was greater enthusiasm and a successfully large amount of fundraising. Many participants donated ten dollars to reserve their place in line. The proceeds were donated to local charities to fight hunger and homelessness and help those in poverty. The event raised about $15 million for charities after operating costs.
The event was conceived and organized by Ken Kragen. Event implementation was through USA for Africa under the direction of Marty Rogol, the founding Executive Director. A theme song, titled "Hands Across America," was played simultaneously on hundreds of radio stations at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. The song was written by Marc Blatte, John Carney, and Larry Gottlieb, and featured lead vocals by session singers Joe Cerisano and Sandy Farina, and the bandToto. The song peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. Hands Across America was a project of USA for Africa. USA for Africa produced "We Are the World" and the combined revenues raised by both events raised almost $100 million to fight famine in Africa and hunger and homelessness in the United States. The date and time chosen for the event inadvertently conflicted with another charity fundraiser, Sport Aid, which was organized by USA for Africa on the same day. Since Hands Across America was much better publicized in the United States, only 4000 runners participated in New York City for Sport Aid.
Continuity of the chain
In order to allow the maximum number of people to participate, the path linked major cities and meandered back and forth within the cities. Just as there were sections where the "line" was six to ten people deep, there were also undoubtedly many breaks in the chain. However, enough people participated that if an average of all the participants had been taken and spread evenly along the route standing four feet apart, an unbroken chain across the 48 contiguous states would have been able to be formed.
Legacy
Hands Across America raised $34 million. According to The New York Times, only about $15 million was distributed after deducting operating costs. The 2019 film Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele, makes several allusions to the 1986 event.
