Roughly 125 riders braved the oppressive heat and humidity Saturday and toured the Berks countryside to support Friend, Inc.’s seventh annual Brake the Cycle of Poverty ride.
Staging out of the parking lot at the Saucony Creek Brewery and Gastropub in Maxatawny Township, the riders chose routes of 62, 40, 25 or 10-miles, with prizes given to the top three fundraisers. Bud Kelchner raised the most money in sponsors to win first prize, a Garmin Edge 520 cycling computer.
All proceeds for the event were placed into the Friend, Inc. general fund to bolster its support for the area’s less fortunate residents.
“This is one of two fundraisers for Friend, Inc.,” said Sandra Wise, Executive Director of the agency. “It will help us reach out to northern Berks County and accomplish our mission of assisting families in need in our community.”
The organization reaches out to the community of Northern Berks County in several areas. A food pantry helps supply needy families with supplies to enhance the nutrition that they might not otherwise be able to afford. It acts as a referral agency to help area citizens find and reach out to other social agencies and offers help to the unemployed and underemployed in all the skills needed to find and interview for a job. Friend, Inc. also helps families with money management skills and offers assistance in navigating the federal benefits system for things like food stamps, home energy support, health insurance, etc.
Riders going different distances were organized into cohorts and took off at separate times. Cases and cases of water and Gatorade were positioned along the routes and SAG wagons followed each group just in case someone’s energy ran out. At the end of the race, Saucony Creek Brewery provided a sandwich wrap to all riders and a glass of beer to the adults to replenish their energy supplies.
“Many of the people that work here are athletes and are deeply into biking, skiing, snowboarding and so forth,” said Luke Wynen, General Manager of Saucony Creek Craft Brewery and Gastropub. “We’d like to plant the idea in people’s minds that this would be a good place to start or end an athletic adventure.”
For more information about Friend Inc., visit www.friendinc.org/. For more about Saucony Creek Brewing and Gastropub, visit sauconybeer.com/.