Four ASU fraternity members are gearing up to embark on a 70-day bike ride across the nation, all to raise money for nonprofits that help people with disabilities.
Pi Kappa Phi, a fraternity known for its community service, is organizing the 24th annual event through the nonprofit organization Push America, a group that serves people with disabilities.
The nonprofit organization’s key message is to promote ability, not disability, said air traffic management senior George Stahle, one of the four ASU riders.
Four riders will unite with 70 other Pi Kappa Phi members from across the nation to make the journey from Seattle to Washington, D.C.
“I’ve never had a close relationship with anyone who had a disability,” business junior Luis Aguilera said. “This journey will open my eyes to how people live with disabilities and how I can help them. It will be inspiring to see how they exceed people’s expectations of them.”
Throughout the bike ride, members will be stopping along the way at community centers, camps and schools to make “friendship visits” with people who have disabilities.
During the stops, Pi Kappa Phi members will put on a pre-scripted and memorized puppet show about how people with disabilities are not different and should never feel discouraged.
Other activities will include wheelchair basketball, dancing, face painting, talent shows and sing-alongs.
The journey will be around 4,000 miles. Riders will take three different routes and are planning to ride anywhere from 85 to 125 miles a day.
“I have two really close family members with disabilities; one has Down syndrome and one has autism,” Spanish junior Joey Denoncourt said. “They’ve been two of the most inspiring people in my life.”
Denoncourt said the Push America organization was one of the reasons he joined Pi Kappa Phi.
“One of the main purposes of me doing Journey of Hope is for my family members, because they have inspired me so much,” he said.
Push America requires each member to ride at least 1,000 miles before the trip. ASU’s own Pi Kappa Phi members are currently trying to reach that goal.
Stahle said he doesn’t really like biking and that the sport can be painful.
“But all of the pain and discomfort is worth it when you see the look on the faces of the kids and people that you’re doing it for,” Stahle said.
Each member is required to raise a minimum of $5,000. The members have been looking for donations everywhere: through local activist groups, businesses and the Journey of Hope section of Push America’s website.
At every stop a check will be awarded to a different nonprofit organization that helps those with disabilities.
Riders are not worried about shelter or food along the way, business sophomore Grant Walton said. They will be staying at the homes of different families.
Stahle said that when times get tough, he always thinks about what a man confined to a wheelchair once told him.
“You can do anything. The only limit to anything you can do is your mind,” he said.
Reach the reporter at tchavez3@asu.edu
