By Jill Doherty
The annual Ride To Turn the Tide to support African grandmothers and their grandchildren is taking place September 4 and 5. These grandmothers have lost their own children to AIDS-related illnesses and have risen to the challenge of helping the next generation. This ride has been a tremendous fundraiser for the Stephen Lewis Foundation for the past 14 years, helping these brave women survive and thrive.
The money we raise goes directly to programs in Africa, which help both the grandparents and children. We have heard personal stories of success and received reports of how our funding is helping. We can’t stop now nor do we want to.
With this goal in mind 27, cyclists and support people, mostly senior citizens, have registered to do the two-day or one-day ride from Stittsville to Perth and back again, with a choice of distances and routes ranging from 50 to 65 kilometres a day. We participate in training rides throughout the summer to prepare for the big event and we do fundraising. It is humbling and overwhelming to think about the amount of money we receive through our fundraising efforts from family, friends and contacts who hear about our ride. Last year, we raised $90,000.
As part of our preparation, a group of grannies do an outreach in a school along the route in May before school closes. This year they spoke to grades 5 and 6 students at Naismith Memorial Public School in Almonte about the Grassroot Grannies helping people in Africa and the good that occurs. On the actual day of the ride, we do a “ride by” and stop to talk to the children who are lined up outside the school to cheer us on. They are often most interested in our bikes, the fact that older people such as us are out doing this activity, and that we are dressed in a kind of uniform which is our cycling jersey. We are as excited as they are when we stop to talk and answer their questions.
Different church groups provide us with lunch or dinner along the way. You will learn more about the details of our ride this year in next month’s issue. In the meantime, if you are out on the roads near Stittsville, Perth, Almonte and Ashton and see a group of committed cyclists beetling along, give a wave and a honk. They could be the Grassroot Grannies.
Read about the Ride to Turn the Tide at grassrootgrannies.com under Events.
