A determined band of bikers will brave weather, traffic and fatigue, peddling some 400 miles in an effort to raise $1 million for Mary’s House of Hope, a Fort Myers shelter for abused homeless women and children and young women aging out of the state foster care system.
The marathon is scheduled July 1-8, and will kick off in Jacksonville and head south to Fort Lauderdale. The bicyclists will then board trucks for a trek across Alligator Alley to South Lee County, then resume peddling to Fort Myers.
Cities on the bike ride route include Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville, Vero Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers.
Organizer Wanda Hurt said the problem of domestic abuse has worsened with the economic slump.
“The loss of jobs has caused men to turn to alcohol and drugs, creating even more violence in the family,” she said. “Women and children are being forced to flee their homes, live with family members, in the woods — even sleeping in tents behind a shopping plaza in Cape Coral — and connecting with strangers who abuse them.”
Hurt, moved to action by her own personal nightmare of a violent marriage, was the driving force behind establishing Mary’s House of Hope, a 10-bedroom duplex that opened in Fort Myers in June, 2008.
Hurt and Mary’s House of Hope board chairman Randy Peska, a Cape Coral realtor, will be among the half dozen or so bikers riding in the marathon.
In addition, money raised will aid local non-profits, including Abuse Counseling Treatment Center (ACT), Our Mothers Homes for Foster Care, and the Tender Loving Care Children’s Home, and domestic violent shelters nationwide will have an opportunity to apply for grants administered through Community Foundations.
“In these hard economic times, we must embrace collaboration to help each other,” Hurt said.
She said she hoped national media exposure will generate a flood of $1 donations from all across the country. Donations can be sent to PO Box 2306, Fort Myers, FL 33902, or made through a secure PayPal link on the Mary’s House of Hope web site at www.maryshouseofhope.org.
