As you know, Kyle, myself and the other 28 members of our team fundraised a minimum of $4,500 to participate in Bike and Build this summer. As a team, we’ve managed to raise $176,000 in total for affordable housing thus far. That’s an awesome way to start the trip and something each of you readers and donators have played a crucial role in. Obviously, we’d like to use, donate and grant as much of that money to affordable housing organizations and build sites as possible (that’s why we’re here!)… Most of the time, that means we skimp on things for ourselves (hot showers, milk, fresh fruits and veggies) and rely on donations for food, shelter, activities outside of biking, etc. We’ve learned to live off the bare essentials (and put peanut butter on nearly everything we eat for extra calories) so we can do more for Affordable Housing. This is where “Donation Magic” (DM) comes into play…
Donation Magic can come in many forms: food, activities, water, bike parts and gear, etc.
Basically, we as riders solicit local businesses for sponsorship along our trip. In return, we often give the business, church or organization a presentation about Affordable Housing, a B & B t shirt and nice thank you note. Sometimes (today for example), that means Kyle and I walking into a local Chick fil’a, explaining that we’re bicycling over 4,000 miles from coast to coast for affordable housing and asking if they would like to sponsor our team with a meal (we were given free combo meals for our entire team – thank you Chick fil’a!)… Other times that means business owners approaching us and asking how they can provide a donation to our group because they’re interested in our trip.
Here’s a quick overview of some of our favorite DM moments over the past couple of weeks, and great BIG THANK YOU to those wonderful businesses that have provided us a hot meal, a dry place to sleep, a shower, and everything else along the way! Our trip wouldn’t be possible without you, nor would it be anywhere near as fun!
Our awesome teammates, Josh and Jill with me at an annual carnival in Hancock, MD. A big thank you to our sponsors for the donated tickets! We made the most of it… And even won a few goldfish (later set free in a nearby river) along the way!
And the team (missing a few) at the carnival…
Strapping donated pizzas to our bikes to bring a few miles up the road to the group for lunch along a 65 mile ride through PA. Thanks Little Ceasars!
The crew hanging out with Mr. Hershey himself at Hershey amusement park in PA. Rain or shine (rain in this case), we had a blast. A HUGE thank you to Mr. DeFiore for the tickets!
One last shot of us on the merry go round in Hershey…
Peace, love and bicycle grease,
The boys
June 22nd, 2012 at 3:53 am
Thanks for a glimpse of Kira, she has been avoiding all photos, It is good to see her for once! Hopefully you will be out of the record heat wave in the north east soon, and over the mountains for a smooth ride, however Chicago and Denver have also been having heat waves. Who knows what you will be faced with. I know you can overcome all hurdles. Bike ON!