Journey of Hope Riding Again

Bike riding across the country is not an easy task, especially for college fraternity men who recently just started summer break. Since 1987 starting with one man, the non-profit organization Push America is gearing up again to take on another adventure of sending 35 men on three routes in what is called Journey of Hope; a 12,000 mile bike ride raising disability awareness.

Pi Kappa Phi – Theta Iota chapter of Washington State University will be represented in all three routes having Steven Wilkerson riding and Trevor Brink, Jared Johnson, Max Maier, and Bryan Janzing serving as crew members. Maier is currently doing Journey of Hope crew for the second year in a row. “It impacted my life so much last summer and I am very fortunate to be able to do this again,” said Maier.

Journey of Hope is just one of three summer projects that Push America carries out that raises over $500,000 and covers 32 states. Each member is required to raise a certain amount of money for the trip according to Maier. The purpose of Journey of Hope as well as Push America is to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities. Push America was started by Pi Kappa Phi in 1977 for a national philanthropy so all Pi Kappa Phi chapters could be united under one common cause; to serve people with disabilities according to the Push America website.

The routes being trekked are the north, south, and transamerica and kick-off the trip on June 10. The Journey of Hope team has been training for nearly two weeks. “We are all getting pretty anxious to start the trip and are tired of waiting,” said Brink. “We all have been pretty busy coordinating what we all have to do at each different stop along the way.”

Brink works as the finance coordinator for the Transamerica route and is responsible for all the money on the trip. Johnson is the public relations coordinator for the north routes as is Janzing for the south route. Maier is crew chief for the south route which is right below project coordinator and Wilkerson will be riding the south route as well.

When the Journey of Hope teams reach a destination, they usually sleep and eat at local colleges or at civic centers according to Maier. The team members are allowed a specific allowance and have a curfew of 2 a.m. each night. Due to time restraints the team stays in an area no long than two days.

All routes will arrive at 11 a.m. August 15 on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol building at the end of summer, according to Maier. The ride is excruciating for riders, who ride up to 75 miles a day according to Brink. “The riders have a really tough time and it is not an easy ride,” said Brink. “The guys usually wake up around 5 a.m. and start riding until late in the afternoon then after that we usually have programs when we arrive at our destination.”

The programs the team participates in can range from a number of different activities. The Journey of Hope members could be playing in a game of wheelchair basketball, performing puppet shows, or just visiting people with disabilities just to name a few examples. These programs focus on the abilities of people with disabilities according to Maier. “We really try and show not only kids, but the parents as well that these people are capable of so much,” said Maier.

If you would like to sponsor any of the team members or looking for more information about Push America and ways to get involved, visit www.pushamerica.org.