When most individuals consider faculty children taking a highway journey, most likely don’t consider faculty college students biking over 4,000 miles from Lampasas, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska over the course of 70 days to lift funds to combat most cancers. Even much less might imagine these college students would take a pit cease from Texas to Alaska in Paducah, Kentucky in the midst of June.
Thursday afternoon, 24 College of Texas college students rode into Paducah as a part of their over-4,000 mile journey to Anchorage. The bikers are a part of Texas 4000, a corporation that places collectively this Texas to Alaska bike journey yearly, and empowers every of the riders to lift a minimum of $4,500 to go towards most cancers remedy and analysis.
Friday morning, the group toured Mercy Well being-Lourdes Hospital, the place Texas 4000 donated $10,000 in 2021 to assist the hospital’s chilly cap remedy program, which helps most cancers sufferers reduce hair loss throughout chemotherapy remedy.
This 12 months, Texas 4000 bike riders cut up into two completely different routes to achieve Anchorage: the Sierra route and the Ozarks route.
Gracie Hornung, certainly one of this 12 months’s 24 riders on the Ozarks route, mentioned whereas Paducah just isn’t on probably the most direct path to Alaska from Texas, Texas 4000 riders come by means of this space to deliver consciousness of their marketing campaign to the “Most cancers Belt,” a area of the U.S. the place most cancers charges are larger than the nationwide common.
“Lots of people in these communities, despite the fact that they’re not on the direct path to Alaska, have significant connections to most cancers. So getting to satisfy them, and go to the bodily services that serve them, has been an actual deal with,” Hornung mentioned.
Hornung added many riders are impressed to hitch Texas 4000 as a result of they, like many Individuals, know somebody with most cancers or somebody who has died from most cancers, and need to do what they will to combat the illness.
College of Texas college students apply to be a part of Texas 4000 18 months earlier than their journey begins, and spend the subsequent 12 months and a half studying about how most cancers impacts folks, studying how their fundraiser has helped completely different hospitals and most cancers remedy facilities, and coaching for his or her journey. Additionally they spend this time fundraising $4,500 per rider. Thus far, Texas 4000 has raised practically $13 million for most cancers remedy and analysis.
Whereas in Paducah, a number of Lowertown neighborhood residents supplied up house of their properties for the scholars to sleep, bathe and join with family members, and in addition organized a potluck dinner for the bike riders to gasoline up after touring from Dyersburg to Paducah on their bikes in sooner or later.
Persistence Renzulli, a Lowertown resident, has helped organized host households for these riders to stick with once they journey by means of Paducah for the previous couple of years. A buddy of hers reached out to let her know the Texas 4000 bike riders have been coming by means of Paducah again in 2018 and have been in the hunt for a spot to remain for the evening.
A biker herself, it was a battle for her to bike 30 miles in Kentucky summer time warmth, not to mention tons of of miles a day these riders tackle. She was impressed to host these college students as a result of shedding her mom, sister and greatest buddy to most cancers, she is impressed by these college students who elevate 1000’s for most cancers analysis and assist lengthen the life expectations of these battling most cancers.
“Internet hosting the youngsters is a present to the hosts. We get an infinite sense of hope for our nation. We get impressed. We really feel grateful,” Renzulli mentioned. “It’s an absolute privilege to deal with and feed them.”
Renzulli added the neighborhood helps these college students every year. Bike World of Paducah contributes and was on name for any restore emergencies. This 12 months, when the bikers had a number of tents stolen from them whereas biking by means of Tennessee, Renzulli mentioned Dick’s Sporting Items of Paducah stepped up and donated a number of tents for the bikers to make use of.
Whereas at Mercy Well being-Lourdes Hospital Friday morning, the bikers noticed an indication of the chilly cap remedy machine that sufferers make the most of to assist reduce hair loss.
John Montville, govt director of Mercy Well being-Lourdes Hospital’s oncology service line, mentioned the hospital was the primary hospital within the nation to supply chilly cap remedy totally free to their most cancers sufferers. Montville mentioned the service, which Texas 4000’s donation helped to assist, gives a stage of confidence for most cancers sufferers and helps them preserve a way of normalcy of their lives.
“I’ve had ladies with tears of their eyes thanking us for what we’ve carried out as a result of they felt like they have been nonetheless a girl and so they felt like they nonetheless had some management over this illness,” Montville instructed the group.
The Texas 4000 bikers are anticipated to achieve Anchorage, Alaska in early August.
Extra details about Texas 4000, together with route info, pupil biographies and a hyperlink to donate to their trigger, is obtainable at texas4000.org.
