Daniel Lemke is a man on a mission. He’s riding his bicycle around the perimeter of the entire country — a journey that will ultimately take him more than a year — to bring attention to the problem of human trafficking.

“My whole mission is to get men on board fighting sex trafficking,” Lemke said at Chick-fil-A on Main Street in Suffolk Wednesday, when he swung through town. “We don’t see a lot of men getting involved.”

Lemke attended North Park University in Chicago and worked as a personal trainer at a gym when he wasn’t doing schoolwork. That’s where he met a police officer, one of his clients, who introduced him to the problem of human trafficking.

The officer told the story of an investigation into a local brothel where law enforcement officers rescued five girls and two boys, ages 10 to 19, who were being forced to provide sex for money. The madam of the brothel only received four months in jail.

“The laws we have right now, I’m sorry, they’re crap,” Lemke said. “Let’s enforce it. Scare the pimps and johns. Let’s get these guys scared.”

Lemke said many people do not realize sex trafficking goes on all over America.

“A lot of people don’t realize it really is in our own backyards,” he said. “We relate better if we see it happen,” but few people ever see the reality of human trafficking.

“The whole mission is to educate people,” Lemke said. “The awareness is absolutely huge with this.”

Lemke said his journey has helped bring attention to the problem everywhere he’s been. He speaks at schools and churches, particularly to men’s groups, along the way.

“My heart is definitely men’s groups,” Lemke said.

While the goal is primarily raising awareness about human trafficking, the monetary donations Lemke is receiving are going toward Love146, which cares for survivors, educates on prevention of trafficking, trains professionals and does research and advocacy, all in an effort to stop trafficking.

After leaving Suffolk, Lemke is making his way to Lynchburg, where he’ll rest for a week with friends and speak at Liberty University. He plans to complete his trip around the perimeter of the country back home in Colorado next summer.