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Arrowhead West clients and Journey of Hope bicycle riders from Push America enjoyed an afternoon of good company, karaoke and games as the Journey of Hope made a stop in Pratt Tuesday afternoon.
This is the second year Arrowhead West has hosted Push America’s Journey of Hope and fed them lunch using the Pratt Teen Center as host building.
Both groups enjoyed the time together and it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the Push America Students or the Arrowhead West clients, said Erinn Rodriguez, Arrowhead West life skill instructor.
“They (clients) loved being around the Push America guys. The clients had so much fun,” Rodriguez said.
Arrowhead West appreciates Journey of Hope and their efforts for people with disabilities.
The Ninnescah Valley Archers later treated the Journey of Hope riders to a grilled steak supper and archery activities at the archery range.
Push America’s Journey of Hope is three teams of bicycle riders with 82 riders from Pi Kappa Phi fraternities across the U.S. that travel 68 days on three routes, each about 4,000 miles, from Seattle and San Francisco to Washington D.C. to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities, said Terry Horstman, on-site coordinator for Journey of Hope.
The team that visited Pratt left Seattle on June 10 and will join up with the other two teams to ride into Washington D.C. together on Aug. 10.
The mission of Journey of Hope is to build the leaders of tomorrow by serving the people with disabilities of today. Each participant has to raise $5,000 to go on the ride and they hope to match the $500,000 in 2008, Horstman said.
The money is used for grants to various organizations that work with people with disabilities and is presented as they travel their 4,000-mile trip, Horstman said.
The team in Pratt had 21 riders from 15 Pi Kappa Phi chapters. The team arrived in Pratt Tuesday morning and camped in the Municipal Building. They headed to Wichita this morning. At various towns on the trip, various local organizations provide food and shelter for the riders.
Among the riders in Pratt was Whitey Holt, a 22-year-old from St. Louis that just graduated from Kirksville, Mo.
When Holt joined Pi Kappa Phi he wanted to get involved in community service and took part in a Habitat for Humanity project and did a lot of work at Posh Camp, a camp for people with disabilities. He helped with accessible construction there. He was also a camp counselor at Wonderland Camp, another camp for people with disabilities. He had so much fun there it like a vacation.
Arrowhead West clients and Journey of Hope bicycle riders from Push America enjoyed an afternoon of good company, karaoke and games as the Journey of Hope made a stop in Pratt Tuesday afternoon.
This is the second year Arrowhead West has hosted Push America’s Journey of Hope and fed them lunch using the Pratt Teen Center as host building.
Both groups enjoyed the time together and it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the Push America Students or the Arrowhead West clients, said Erinn Rodriguez, Arrowhead West life skill instructor.
“They (clients) loved being around the Push America guys. The clients had so much fun,” Rodriguez said.
Arrowhead West appreciates Journey of Hope and their efforts for people with disabilities.
The Ninnescah Valley Archers later treated the Journey of Hope riders to a grilled steak supper and archery activities at the archery range.
Push America’s Journey of Hope is three teams of bicycle riders with 82 riders from Pi Kappa Phi fraternities across the U.S. that travel 68 days on three routes, each about 4,000 miles, from Seattle and San Francisco to Washington D.C. to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities, said Terry Horstman, on-site coordinator for Journey of Hope.
The team that visited Pratt left Seattle on June 10 and will join up with the other two teams to ride into Washington D.C. together on Aug. 10.
The mission of Journey of Hope is to build the leaders of tomorrow by serving the people with disabilities of today. Each participant has to raise $5,000 to go on the ride and they hope to match the $500,000 in 2008, Horstman said.
The money is used for grants to various organizations that work with people with disabilities and is presented as they travel their 4,000-mile trip, Horstman said.
The team in Pratt had 21 riders from 15 Pi Kappa Phi chapters. The team arrived in Pratt Tuesday morning and camped in the Municipal Building. They headed to Wichita this morning. At various towns on the trip, various local organizations provide food and shelter for the riders.
Among the riders in Pratt was Whitey Holt, a 22-year-old from St. Louis that just graduated from Kirksville, Mo.
When Holt joined Pi Kappa Phi he wanted to get involved in community service and took part in a Habitat for Humanity project and did a lot of work at Posh Camp, a camp for people with disabilities. He helped with accessible construction there. He was also a camp counselor at Wonderland Camp, another camp for people with disabilities. He had so much fun there it like a vacation.
“I swear it wasn’t like work,” Holt said.
Although their goal is to help those with disabilities the group also has the physical challenge of riding bicycles an average of 75 miles each day in all kinds of weather conditions.
The most difficult part of the ride so far was a 126-mile stretch in Wyoming. There was not place to stop and they just had to keep riding.
They had several hundred mile rides in a row in Wyoming. Riders start at 6 a.m. and they had to ride until well into the afternoon to reach the next stop on the ride.
“That was quite a day,” Holt said.
Holt was not a regular bike rider before Journey of Hope. When he decided to tackle Journey of Hope, he started to ride with two other guys to build up his stamina. They would ride from 20 to 30 miles a day usually going out 15 miles then coming back 15 miles.
He also ran and lifted weights. He also changed his diet and eats a lot of tuna. There are lots of ways to fix tuna, it is a good source of protein and has little fat. He watches what he eats and he never was much of a soda drinker.
He lost 15 pounds before the ride started and has lost another 8 since Journey of Hope started.
The day starts early for the riders. They are up at 5 a.m. to start out at 6 a.m. They like to get done with their ride early in the day to avoid the heat plus the earlier they get done the sooner they get to relax, take showers and meet with the various organizations.
