15 Days to Go!

Hello everyone! As the three of us prepare for our trip, the excitement is building with 500 training miles complete and only a couple of weeks until we ride out on June 10th! This summer, through a program called Bike & Build, we are biking 4,000 miles, coast-to-coast, from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Bellingham, Washington in support of affordable housing. Over the course of roughly two and a half months, we will cross the country, participating in affordable housing builds with local housing affiliates along the way. Thanks to our generous donors, we have already raised $5,000 per person, only a small portion of which goes toward funding our trip. The majority of donations is presented as grants to Bike & Build's partner affordable housing organizations.

During our time at University Laboratory High School in Urbana, IL, we were involved in the school's Habitat for Humanity club. As active members and leaders, we raised money for the Habitat affiliate in Clarksdale, Mississippi. In the spring of 2018, we traveled to the Mississippi Delta with the club to build for the Clarksdale affiliate and meet influential community members. One of the trip leaders, and our high school history teacher, Bill Sutton, inspired us to continue working with affordable housing organizations. When we learned of this Bike & Build trip, we immediately knew we had to be a part of it. 

Bill Sutton

As we ride, we will periodically (a few times a week) publish posts to this blog with updates on where we are, what we're doing, and some recent photos. We would like to thank our supporters, especially Faircom and Durst Cycle and Fitness for their substantial donations. We would also like to thank our Uni teachers for their support, especially those who contributed to our fundraisers. Finally, a thank you to our parents and families for all the support (monetary, transportational, and emotional). We couldn't have done it without all of your help.