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KU student cycling across country for charity

Many people enjoy a nice bike ride every now and then, but how about one that spans the entire country? One Lawrence woman is doing just that, and for a good cause. Watch

On the street

What is the most physical thing you’ve done for charity?

I was on a five-person Walk for Life team that collectively walked for 24 hours.

— Brandt Pyle

More responses

Two Kansas University students plan to spend this summer pedaling for a cause.

Stephanie Meehan, a senior from Topeka, will ride from Boston to Santa Barbara, Calif., with Bike & Build, a nonprofit organization that helps provide affordable housing.

Meanwhile, Josh Schoenfelder, a senior from St. Joseph, Mo., will cycle from Seattle or San Francisco to Washington, D.C., as part of the Journey for Hope, which benefits people with disabilities.

Both are athletic but have never been big bicyclists. Meehan competes in triathlons. Schoenfelder runs and lifts weights. The students said they expect the approximately 4,000-mile trips — that’s 80 round-trips from Lawrence to Topeka — to be challenging but rewarding.

“I will just have to struggle to get up a mountain, but somebody in a wheelchair fighting a disease has to struggle every day, so I guess that is what will motivate me,” Schoenfelder said.

He also finds motivation from family and friends: his grandmother has been in a wheelchair for nearly 10 years; his mother was diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris, a rare autoimmune skin disorder two years ago; his teenage cousin is fighting an unidentifiable disease that requires several hospital visits a year; and his roommate has cerebral palsy.

“It has really affected me personally,” he said.

That’s why he wanted to participate in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity’s annual charity event that started in 1987. Each member — there are three teams of 20 participants — raises at least $5,000, and 88 percent of the proceeds benefit organizations that help people with disabilities. So far, he has raised $4,025, but his goal is to raise between $8,000 and $10,000.

Beside helping financially, participants stop and visit with groups that serve people with disabilities. One of the three Journey for Hope routes will go through Kansas and stop at the Topeka Association for Retarded Citizens and the Kansas State School for the Deaf in Olathe.

100 visits

Schoenfelder won’t know which route he will be on until next month, but he is looking forward to the approximately 100 visits on his journey and the culmination of the event at the U.S. Capitol.

“I’ve heard that’s quite the moment,” he said. “I’ve traveled a little bit, but nothing like this. I am going to meet a lot of interesting people but also while promoting a good cause.”

Joey Smith, director of logistics and a former participant, assures Schoenfelder that it will be a life-changing event.

“You just really grow up quickly and learn how to work with other people,” he said. “You learn to appreciate people from all kinds of walks of life. Honestly, it’s pretty phenomenal.”

Schoenfelder said KU fraternity members Stephen Sanger, of Oklahoma City, and Matthew Wullf, of Prairie Village, also plan to participate in the Journey of Hope this summer.

Bike & Build

Meehan is the lone student from KU participating in Bike & Build, which began in 2003 and has seven routes this year. After she graduates in May with degrees in speech-language-hearing and English, Meehan said she wanted to do something “fun yet worthwhile,” before attending graduate school in the fall. Bike & Build sparked her interest because she will help build nine houses during the 67-day trip which will go through Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. She will travel with 30 other 18- to 25-year-olds.

“It wasn’t just raising money and raising awareness. It was actually, physically building and seeing what those efforts were going to,” Meehan said.

She is required to raise $4,000 and has raised only $635. Fifty percent of the money raised will benefit organizations such as Lawrence Habitat for Humanity, where Meehan also is required to perform eight hours of “sweat equity” before the trip.

Although she’s worried about raising “so much money,” she’s excited about the trip.

“It will be so neat, and I am going to see so much,” she said.