Rachel Abramowitz of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., organized a bike ride called Kids Ride 4 Cancer for her Mitzvah Project. Children and adults of all ages were encouraged to ride 2, 5 or 10 miles. There was a registration fee and riders were welcome to collect donations in support of their ride.
Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah was in June of 2007, and the first Ride was held in May of 2007. The Ride was so successful, Rachel continued her Mitzvah by holding Kids Ride 4 Cancer in 2008 as well. Here is a description of Rachel’s Project in her own words:
For my Mitzvah Project, I created a bike ride called Kids Ride 4 Cancer. All of the money that was collected went to help fight cancer through the American Cancer Society’s Bike-A-thon (which is held annually in Philadelphia). For the past several years, my parents and I have participated in the ACS Bike-A-Thon. We love to be a part of such a great experience because it’s fun, great exercise and you feel good about helping people.
I believe that people of all ages should be able to ride, even if they are not experienced riders. That is why I created Kids Ride 4 Cancer. This is an example of “gemilut chasadim,” performing an act of loving kindness. I was able to do this by raising money for cancer, or helping the sick.
Kids Ride 4 Cancer was a huge success!
I put a lot of my time and energy into making this ride great. My parents and I went to local supermarkets and other convenience stores and got a lot of food and drink donations. We printed up flyers and distributed them to my friends and family. We posted signs marking the course, and enlisted great volunteers to help at the rest stops. My ride was a huge success. We had an attendance of about 120 bikers, walkers, rollerbladers, and even a dog! In the end, we raised about $8,000! All of our efforts definitely made a difference!
