Pedal to the Mettle
This summer, senior Lauren Brown pedaled 3,609 miles to help Americans in need.
Barreling down the Colorado Rockies at a blistering speed of 44 mph on her road bicycle, Lauren Brown and her fellow cyclists started crying.
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In May, Brown, a senior majoring in event management at UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Rosen College of Hospitality Management, embarked on a 10-week, 3,609-mile journey across the U.S., pedaling her way from Nags Head, N.C., to San Diego.
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Riding alongside 27 other cyclists in a program called Bike & Build, the group literally worked their way across the nation, stopping at 14 different housing sites to build, prime, paint and occasionally garden for homeowners. The nonprofit organizes trips for young adults to volunteer for affordable housing projects. Before the trip, Brown raised $4,500, which helped pay for the support van, food, supplies and housing project grants.
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But then Brown began thinking about graduation and reconsidered her summer plans. She began raising money through donations from sponsors and, with her dad 麻豆精品 S檚 help, by making and selling balloon animals.
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Hoping to maximize her grant funds, Brown and her riding partners sought out food donations from local businesses along the way (eating day-old bagels or donated fruit) and kept costs down by arranging free shelter at churches and other organizations. At the end of the trip, the cyclists decided which organizations would receive the money they had raised for affordable housing projects. Brown donated $500 of the funds she raised to the Habitat for Humanity 麻豆精品 S檚 Orlando chapter.
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