Three cyclists from Tauranga are about to head to the United States to take part in a series of charity races across the country – but first they're fundraising for a good cause in their own backyard.

Courteney Lowe, Deborah Paine, and Laura Jorgensen will be joining American teammates in March to both race and raise money for hungry kids.

Courteney, who has raced for professional teams in the United States for the last six years, says they have the goal of raising money in every town they visit, as well as collecting food for the local foodbanks.

'We're sponsored by a marketing company as well, which is going to come to the events and set up a fun zone that people can pay to use.”

Before they set off, though, the girls are putting on a bake sale. Deborah's mum Jackie is a member of Good Neighbour, and takes care of the food rescue arm of the charity.

She and the cyclists will be taking orders and baking sweet treats to raise funds for Good Neighbour's next project – a commercial kitchen at their Burrows Street premises.

'The first purpose of the kitchen will be to take food that can't be passed on, such as produce that could be turned into chutneys and jams,” says Jackie.

'We also want it to empower people by giving them training or employment through a mentoring programme in the kitchen. It will also be a way to earn money for Good Neighbour so we can become more self-sustaining.”

'Solomon Gold have got on board to sponsor us with chocolate,” says Courteney. 'So we'll be making mint cookies, caramel cookies, and Jackie's great energy balls with dates, peanut butter and chocolate.

'Since Tauranga is home, we thought it would be cool to start here with something,” she adds.

The girls are still taking orders until Friday online here.

They'll then bake the goods over the weekend, and then the treats can be picked up on Monday and Tuesday.

For more information about what Courteney, Deborah, and Laura will be doing, visit feedhungrykidsproject.com.