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Cyclists Visit Local Organization on State Wide Trek
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Cyclists visit local organization on state wide trek. Photo by Andrea Lypka
24 bicyclists tour Florida to raise funds for non-profit centers for people with disabilities. On day seven of their 16-day long trip, the cyclists visited MacDonald Training Center in Tampa on May 21st.
The center is one of the leading non-profit serving 600 adults with developmental disabilities to live empowered lives for over 50 years in Tampa Bay.
Rita Hattab, an art teacher and a community relations coordinator at the MacDonald Training Center.
“Every year these fine young men visit us and every year we are delighted to see them,” she said.
With the contribution of Gear Up Florida, the training center will purchase touch screens for the computers.
“Everybody needs to know how to work a computer now. This is an important skill we teach at the center,” Hattab said.
While at the Center the cyclists visited with the adults with disabilities, toured the Computer Lab and the production areas where the SunPass transponders are packaged.
The cyclists also visited the MTC fine arts studios and met with artists Mike Albritton and Glen M. Nash. Glen. Glen has exhibited at the Tampa Museum of Art, the TECO Plaza Public Art Gallery, Artists Emporium, the Syd Entel Gallery and other locations. Both of them recently exhibited work at the University of Tampa's Scarfone/Hartley Gallery in Tampa.
Among the visitors was international studies student, Jarred Bean. The 19-year-old Bean is also the community relations person for the trip. During his freshman year at Queens University of Charlotte, he joined in the fraternity that funds Push America because he wanted to do community service.
“We just love doing this, we love showing people affection and that we care about them. We want to make this people be a part of the society because they are and they should be seen as such,” he said.
The top fundraiser for the event this year is Paul Parker from N.J.
“I raised $10,700. But to be honest with you, this is a collective effort; every member on the team raised a minimum of $2,500 to earn a seat on the team. And this is just a small token for the appreciation we all have,” Parker said.
He said that the bike trek is “a mission of hope and it is a phenomenal experience” for the team.
Gear Up Florida’s annual 800 mile cycling event is organized by Push America. The volunteers from the Phi Kappa Phi fraternity cycle over 800 miles across the state to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities and they also visit non-profit organizations.
Over the past ten years, almost 300 Pi Kappa Phis have participated in Gear Up Florida. Each year, the team raises over $80,000 to benefit people with disabilities. Gear Up Florida has served that mission well by creating an event that is touted as "The best two weeks of programming Push America has to offer."
This 850-mile bike ride kicks off on the shores of Miami, travels through the Florida orange fields, reaches the Gulf coast, passes through Orlando, comes back to the Atlantic coast and culminates at the State Capitol in Tallahassee.
For more info:
For the itinerary of the trip and more pictures visit
To find out more about MacDonalds Center visit www.macdonaldcenter.org
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