Journey of Hope cycles through
THOMPSON FALLS – This summer a group of proactive college students will be traveling coast to coast via bicycle. These students part of Push America’s Journey of Hope made their way through Sanders County on their way east last week.
The cyclists arrived at Thompson Falls High School around 2 p.m. on Friday, June 6, in the afternoon and spent the night at the school before heading off to Missoula on Saturday.
The Push America cyclists, all members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, came from all across the country to embark on this journey.
“We have riders and crew members from every corner of the country,” Alex Maxwell of Mississippi, currently a student at Mississippi State University, said.
The cross-country bicycle trek is split into three different groups.
The northern Journey of Hope group departs from San Francisco, while the southern team heads out from Los Angeles and the TransAmerica squad departs from Seattle.
The TransAmerica team travels through Washington, Idaho and Western Montana before continuing their journey east through Wyoming.
Each group, after traveling their portion of the nation, meets up in Washington D.C. on August 2.
The summer-long event annually raises around $500,000 for people with disabilities across the country. The trek aims to spread a message of acceptance and understanding of people living with disabilities.
“Our goal is to raise awareness and funds for people with disabilities,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell noted the TransAmerica team often spends off days conducting friendship visits with special needs groups all over the nation.
Before leaving Idaho, the group took time out of their road trip to brighten the day of individuals at Panhandle Special Needs in Sandpoint.
“We ate lunch and had a dance party. It makes their day,” Maxwell said.
On Friday alone the team covered 86 miles as they traveled from Lake Pend Oreille to the heart of Sanders County.
The amount of distance covered during one day depends on terrain and where the Push America team has found lodging for the evening.
“We average 75 miles a day, sometimes more, sometimes it’s less,” Matt Franklins of Ohio, currently studying at the University of Dayton, said.
Before the group sets out from the west coast, each member must raise a sizeable amount of funds to put towards the Journey of Hope’s mission of spreading awareness about those living with disabilities.
According to Maxwell, cyclists raise $5,500 before embarking on the journey, while crew members contribute $2,500 worth of fundraising.
In order to ensure the cyclist’s safety the Push America crew members split up between several vans, distributing themselves throughout the pack of bicycles to make sure the trekkers do not get lost, fall behind or have any equipment difficulties.
The group’s arrival in Thompson Falls marked the conclusion of the second full week of their journey.
The team departed the county capital on the morning of Saturday, June 7, following Highway 200 through Sanders County before turning south on U.S. Route 93.
The Journey of Hope began in 1988, but the TransAmerica portion of the three tiered journey started ten years ago and is the newest addition to Push America.
After the cyclists reach the District of Columbia in early August the Journey of Hope will have covered 32 different states, cycling over 12,000 miles.