We grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
-Make-A-Wish Foundation mission
Over the last few months, we’ve been talking a lot about the upcoming Wish-A-Mile (WAM) bicycle tour. It’s a big deal in our community, and it starts in just a few days! There’s still time to support your favorite ryders. The WAM 300 mile ride runs Thursday, July 25 through Saturday, July 27. The WAM 50 mile ride takes place on Sunday, July 28.
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The RydeOn! 50 team is 10 members strong, and has raised $4,951, just $49 short our $5,000 goal. Several additional RydeOn! family members are participating in both the WAM 50 and the WAM 300 as individuals or as members of other teams. Fred Farrand alone has raised over $18,750 for his WAM team.
“Enrich” yourself
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Why is this event so important to our community? In Michigan, 450 children are medically eligible for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Make-A-Wish Michigan’s goal for 2013 is to provide wishes for 400 of them. The four-day WAM tour is their single biggest fundraiser, and they are 75% of the way to their tour fundraising goal of $2.1 million dollars.
The true success of the WAM is its ability to build stronger communities through localized giving—Michigan families supporting Michigan kids. The mission statement above talks about “enriching the human experience.” They aren’t just referring to the critically ill kids. Here are four more reasons you should get involved in WAM:
Be a cog in the wheel
RydeOn! family members appreciate the benefits of being in a supportive, caring environment where others around you are invested in your success. Multiply this by 100, and you’ll begin to get an idea of the scale of the WAM tour. Over 1,000 cyclists and volunteers participate in WAM; over 3,000 WAM community members celebrate your success at the finish line.
Do it for someone else
Have you ever heard stories of people who accomplished amazing physical feats when someone around them needed help? At mile 48, you may be done—sore, exhausted, hot, at the end of your tether. But you’re not riding for yourself. With the help of your sponsors, you’re riding to grant the wish of a very special child. This child and their family never get a break from the illness they face. You are working to provide them with “hope, strength and joy” as they deal with things most of us will, hopefully, never have to face. And you will meet some of these families shortly when you cross the finish line. Talk about motivation! 50 miles? No sweat! 300 miles? It may be tough, but you can do it! You’ll be in great shape before you know it.
Make friends
“Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.
W. Clement Stone
Whether you’re riding as an individual cyclist or as part of a team, you’ll be sweating and working all day (or multiple days) with 1,000 other people who are all focused on the same goal. And what’s that goal again? Making sick kids happy. These are good people. You could do a lot worse in the friend department.
Experience the joy of being accountable
Even if you’re an individual cyclist for WAM, you’re on a team. Being on a team means people depend on you, and you depend on them. You’ve made commitments to your sponsors, they’ve made commitments to you and you’re all working together to support Make-A-Wish families. Together, you have the opportunity to accomplish great things, like raising $2.1 million dollars to show critically ill Michigan children and their families that they have the support of their neighbors. It’s an awesome opportunity to have, when you think about it.
"Veterans know it is not simply just a bike ride. It so much more than 300 miles on a bicycle. We tell people, you won't truly understand until you come do it."
– ROB GRAINGER, TAYLOR'S DAD,
CAPTAIN OF TEAM TAYLOR
