Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) is now accepting registrations for the second annual Pride Ride scheduled for Aug. 23 and 24, 2003. The two-day, 190-mile bicycle fundraising event will take riders from TPAN's North Side Chicago office to Lake Geneva and back. Registration for Pride Ride is $65 and participants are required to raise $1,000 to support TPAN's mission of providing peer-led HIV support and information services.
Pride Ride was created one year ago in an effort to create a grassroots fundraising event with all money raised going to charity. The inaugural event had 14 participants and raised nearly $15,000. Last year 100% of the donations collected by riders were returned back to TPAN.
Pride Ride 2 can accommodate 50-75 riders and 10-15 volunteer crewmembers. This will allow the event to be managed by volunteers and current TPAN staff while raising a significant amount of money to fight HIV/AIDS. It is the mutual goal of TPAN and Pride Ride organizers to maintain the grassroots aspect of the event, thus avoiding exorbitant costs.
'Over the past few years we have seen bicycle fundraising events spend tremendous amounts of money on production and administrative fees,' said TPAN event coordinator Jeffrey Allen. 'Pride Ride breaks this pattern. We have created an event where participants can be assured that their hard work in riding and collecting donations is recognized. Pride Ride expects nearly 100% of donations received will go directly to charity. The money raised by Pride Riders will go to providing direct services to people living with HIV and work to prevent new infections in Chicago's GLBT community.' Although TPAN and Pride Ride organizers cannot guarantee a dollar amount of funds raised for direct services, costs of the event are minimal and expected to be covered by the registration fee and in-kind donations.
Pride Riders can expect a weekend of friendship and empowerment as they leave TPAN on Saturday morning and share the experience of riding to Williams Bay, Wisc. Pride Riders will rest overnight at the Wesley Woods Retreat Center on Lake Geneva, complete with cabins, showers and meals.
On Sunday, riders will return to Chicago and celebrate their victory at TPAN. On both days, Pride Riders will experience the beauty of winding country roads of southeast Wisconsin and along shaded bicycle paths secluded from traffic and noise of the cities.
Participants needing support for fundraising and training will have the opportunity to take advantage of organized training rides and fundraising forums being offered by Pride Ride volunteer organizers. These volunteers have a tremendous amount of experience in this area and wish to provide all the support needed by participants without adding to the cost of the event.
Support for riders along the route will consist of donated food and purified water, as well as volunteer-driven route vehicles to care for riders in need of any unanticipated mechanical or medical problems.
For more information about Pride Ride 2 or to register as a rider or crewmember for Pride Ride 2, contact Jeffrey Allen at (773) 989-9400, or visit www.tpan.com to learn more about TPAN's programs and services.
TPAN provides peer-led HIV programming, outreach, support services, information dissemination, and advocacy. TPAN publishes and distributes two HIV/AIDS journals, Positively Aware and Positively Aware en Español, as well as the bilingual Chicago Area HIV Services Directory, and the Chicago Area Directory of HIV Professionals.
