Cindy Bauer still sounds a bit overwhelmed when she recalls her first meeting with University of Maryland, Baltimore County, graduates Patrick Blair and Adam Driscoll.
Bauer is the founder of Kupenda, a Baltimore County-based nonprofit that manages eight schools for special needs children in Kenya.
“All of a sudden, they ran up to me after my presentation at a retreat,” Bauer said. “And they were like, ?We?re going to raise money for you.? Then they said, ?We?re going to Africa with you too. We want to see where the money we raise is going to go.? ”
Now, with Jesse Stump and Phil Knolton, two of their former UMBC cross-country and track teammates, they?re taking three months off to ride single-track, fixed-gear bikes 6,000 miles across the U.S. to raise donations for Kupenda, which means “to love” in Swahili.
“People there don?t have cars,” Blair said of the coast of Kenya where the schools are located. “If you?re a handicapped kid and live three miles from school, you?re just not going.”
Last summer, the two 24-year-olds rode from Baltimore to Ocean City and back, raising $7,000 for the American Diabetes Association.
Type 2 diabetes “is practically sweeping the United States,” said Driscoll, who?s been taking insulin since he was 10. “But I also want to show people with Type I, what I have, that it doesn?t have to slow you down ? anything is possible.”
“If we raise $20,000 for Kupenda, it will change a lot of kids? lives,” Blair said.
More information
Upcoming fundraising events and more information can be found at www.adventuresforthecure.com.
