The Fijis Across America cross country bike ride for Alzheimer’s research will begin next week.
The group, which includes five Western Kentucky University students, left Monday morning on their way to California. The bike ride will begin May 25 in Oceanside, Calif., and will end in mid-July in Yorktown, Va.
Riders from WKU are Tyler Jury (Gatton Academy ’08) of Elizabethtown, Chaz Vittitow of Louisville, Mitchell White of Bowling Green, Justin Cave of Glendale and Wade Haga of Lexington.
“We’ve gotten incredible support from our families, friends, WKU and the Alzheimer’s Association,” Jury said.
The group hopes to raise $75,000 to benefit the Greater Kentucky/Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and to increase local, state and national awareness as the students ride about 3,200 miles from California to Virginia. The fundraiser is being conducted in memory of Barrett Cummings, Jury’s grandfather.
So far the group has raised more than $20,500. As the students travel through nine states – California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia – they plan to participate in fundraisers and other events.
Jury said the group has been collecting stories of Alzheimer’s impact on families and will dedicate each day’s ride to a family.
Information about the trip, including videos, photos, blogs and route map, is available on the Fijis Across America website and Facebook page.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu. For information, contact Tyler Jury at (270) 766-7121.
Alumni, FIJIs, Fijis Across America, Tyler Jury, WKU