Bloomington’s Salvation Army was visited Monday by a group of University of Texas students and alumni traveling across the country for a worthy cause.
The nonprofit Texas 4,000 for Cancer is based at the University of Texas at Austin and hosts an annual charity bike ride raising funds and awareness for cancer research.
The organization has been around since 2004.
“We’ve been doing the world’s longest annual charity bike ride for the last 21 years,” said recent UT-Austin graduate and Texas 4,000 member John Kangos.
The group bikes approximately 4,000 miles from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska each summer, over the course of 70 days.
“We grant out money to cancer research and support services. We hear people’s stories and take them on the ride with us,” Kangos continued.
Thus far this year, the group of more than 60 participants (who choose one of three routes) has raised nearly $460,000, according to the Texas 4,000 website. Donors can sponsor an individual rider or team. The group has also collected corporate sponsorships.
Another recent graduate of UT-Austin and Texas 4,000 member, Hanna Hoogendam, said taking part in the ride is a "dream come true."
“We meet a lot of people along the route that are really supportive and love what we’re doing and we carry their stories all the way to Alaska," she said. "Personally, it’s been a really incredible journey and I’ve dreamed of doing it ever since I came to the University of Texas.”
Kangos said the Ozark National Forest and the rolling green hills in Missouri were two scenic highlights the group has seen so far on their journey. The group was able to visit with cancer patients at the Hope Lodge in Houston, Texas, which he said was a particularly impactful stop.
“I think what really stands out are the people that we meet; we’ve had lots of incredible hosts who have opened their doors to us and shown us incredible generosity," he said.
Salvation Army Development Director Deborah Cole oversaw accommodations for Texas 4,000 riders passing through Bloomington. Riders have the option to skip the Midwest and travel a hillier journey through the Rocky Mountains or Sierra Nevada.
“We weren’t quite sure if it would work because we just have basically a gym floor, but we wanted to open that up,” Cole said.
The riders relaxed in sleeping bags with food and drinks provided by the Salvation Army. They made it work in collaboration with Eastview Community Center.
"We didn’t have enough showers [and] they allowed us to transport the riders over and they got to use the showers over there,” she said.
Cole said the Salvation Army raises money for other causes, hosts block parties and offers financial assistance to those in need alongside hosting travelers like the Texas 4,000.
The Texas 4,000 students are currently on day 26 of their 70-day trip, having left Bloomington this morning. Kangos said the group was headed north after their one-night stay in the Twin Cities.
“We’re just going to keep going straight up through the Midwest,” he said. “We’re heading into the Chicago area. We’ll be spending a night in Munster [Indiana] another two in Chicago. And after that, we’ll head up through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and across the border into Canada."
