On May 25, 1986, over 5 million Americans joined hands for the 15-minute event Hands Across America. Organizers hoped to raise millions of dollars to fight hunger, homelessness and poverty.

It was a Sunday, around 3 p.m. on the East Coast, when millions of people held hands with strangers for 15 minutes in a human chain that was meant to stretch from New York to California.

Hands Across America, initially organized by Ken Kragen, is being revitalized by Franklin resident Jeff Prescott, who began envisioning a second round in 2016. Years later, he feared the ...