Friday, November 28, 2008
Biking for a gift
Four Ferrum College students are making a bike trip for a charity.
Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times
Patrick Black (left) and Youngkyu Lee are two of four international students at Ferrum College taking a charity bike trip.
Black (left) and Lee inspect their gear before their trip. They have raised $100 so far and hope to raise $300 more.
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With mountain bikes and camping gear carefully packed, four international college students embarked on an adventure last week to West Virginia.
Patrick Black from Northern Ireland, Youngkyu Lee from South Korea and Zhen Guo and Youpeng Fu, both from China, might have found one another at Ferrum College through the school's international program. Or maybe their love for biking brought them together. No matter how these four students found one another, they found a way to put the giving in Thanksgiving this week.
Three months ago, they decided to bypass the traditional turkey dinner and bike 400 miles through the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia over Thanksgiving break.
"It was Kyu's idea to do the bike trip," Black said. "And I said, 'Well, if we're going to do this, we might as well do it for a purpose.' "
Black had heard of an international charity called These Numbers Have Faces. He encouraged his friends to use the bike trip to help raise tuition for 21-year-old Khanisa Nqoboka, a student at University of the Western Cape in South Africa. Nqoboka's parents both died last May, and the charity decided to help him pay for his education. He hopes to graduate in 2010 with a degree in tourism, just in time for the anticipated 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"We hope to raise $400, one dollar per mile. Khanisa needs $1,000, but we aren't the only people raising money to make that total," Black said.
Each student bought new equipment for the lengthy bike trip. Most went to stores, but Lee said he bought his Marin mountain bike for $600 on eBay.
His bike took seven days to ship from California. "When I get this bike at the post office, it was huge," Lee said. "Everybody asked me, 'What's that inside?' I explained it was my baby."
The foursome left Friday with a lofty goal of 50 miles a day. But with snow on the ground and more in the forecast, Black wasn't positive which route the group would take.
"If a car can get through, we can get through," Black said before they left campus. "It may be slightly dangerous in some parts, but we are going to be careful. We've got all the necessary safety equipment."
The group began training two months ago. Taking advantage of the mountains and trails around Ferrum College, Black said they tried to train every day and would ride for about nine miles.
These Numbers Have Faces also will raise money more traditionally, selling merchandise online to make up the difference, said Justin Zoradi, co-founder of the Portland, Ore.-based charity.
Zoradi has spoken with Black on the phone many times but has never met him face to face. Still, he's very impressed by Black and his creative fundraising ideas.
"They contacted me in the late summer. They also had a crazy idea about a road trip around the country for next summer," Zoradi said.
Zoradi said Black still plans to travel around the United States to raise money at local festivals this summer.
So far, the group has raised only about $100. Black hopes to raise the rest of the money upon their return to college Saturday.
