In nine hours TEAM BOB and the 2009 Pan Ohio Hope riders will head out from downtown Cleveland with a Day 1 destination of The College of Wooster. We depart each day at 0700 and have a 77-mile route planned tomorrow.
This evening TEAM BOB teammates Mary Ellen (Bob's mother-in-law), Andy (future brother-in-law for Bob?), Matthew (Bob's brother), and Bob (TEAM BOB Captain) attended the Welcome Reception at the Cleveland Hope Lodge. Joining us were Kate (Bob's wife) and Hilary (Matthew's wife). We had a great tour of the facility and learned that A) they are at full accomodations of 31 guests and caregivers B) there is always a waitlist C) there is a communal kitchen and everyone prepares meals on-own D) there are no full time doctors or nurses onsite E) they always are looking for more volunteers and F) a typical stay is 1-2 months for each guest. It's a beautiful facility with large manicured lawns and gardens. It was clear there is lots of love and giving here.
We listened to guest speakers from both the A.C.S. and the ride organziers. The 2009 edition is only the 3rd annual. 2007 started off with 50 riders and this year there will be 230+. At the moment TEAM BOB is over $16,000 in fund raising and the overall event has past $263,000 - very exciting! There was even an annoucement of a very generous corporate donation of $10,000.
The message to us tonight was 'Happy Birthday'. With facilities like Hope Lodges and organizations like the American Cancer Society, cancer patients will become cancer survivors and every birthday will be a celebration of this good fight.
The alarm is set of 0525...time for bed.
TEAM BOB
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment