On July 16, participants and organizers of the Ride for the Phoenix, a bike ride across America to raise $1 million for North Lawndale College Prep (NLCP) Charter High School, kicked off their cross-country fund-raiser. The event, held at Kozy’s Bike Shop, was designed to send off the cyclists, raise awareness of the issues facing students on Chicago’s West side, and celebrate NLCP and the success they have had sending students to and through college.
“This event is more than just a fundraiser for a school – it’s an opportunity for us to recognize the difficult journey a student from North Lawndale must take to complete college,” said NLCP President, Dr. Garland Thomas-McDavid. “The students of NLCP must cycle thro-ugh an obstacle-course of low expectations, poverty, and violence. This ride across America is a great opportunity to celebrate how students from NLCP are overcoming the odds, while at the same time raising money so more students can be given the opportunity to graduate from college and end the cycle of poverty. We are thankful to all participants and donors and everyone associated with this monumental effort.”
North Lawndale College Prep (NLCP) is a coed, public charter high school with two campuses that serve approximately 700 students in grades 9-12. The school’s mission is to prepare young people from under-resourced communities for graduation from high school with the academic skills and personal resilience necessary for successful completion of college. The ride is attempting to raise $1M for NLCP’s “College Readiness Campaign,” an initiative aimed to enhance academic programs and get more students to and through college.
The ride will start in Astoria, Oregon on July 24, 2018 and will cover 3,491 miles over two summers. The riders will average sixty-two miles per day and will complete the first half of the ride in Madison, South Dakota on August 20, 2018. The 2018 portion of the ride will be split into 30 segments and will include approximately 10 cyclists per segment. To register for the ride, donate money toward the fundraising goal, or become a corporate sponsor, visit: http://rideforthephoenix.org/.
