A Cross-Country Bike Ride With a Purpose

Cycling across 13 states, over 3,000 miles, raising $300,000 to help 10,000 kids — that’s the goal for Dr. Lori Salierno.

Her cross-country bike ride passed through Bend Wednesday morning.

Salierno is the founder of Celebrate Life, a faith based non-profit that mentors at-risk kids. Her trek started this weekend on the Pacific coast and will end in about seven weeks in Georgia.

Driving her forward on the long ride, the thoughts of kids the organization has already helped.

“He was a gang member, he was dropping out of school, his grades were horrible,” Salierno recalled. “And he got into the Teach One Lead One program — and it turned it around for him. And now, instead of brutalizing our communities, he is representing our country.”

The ride is called Challenge the Cycle, a reference to breaking the cycle of destructive behavior in the lives of kids.

Find out more about how you can get involved by visit the organizations website, www.celebratelife.org.

So far, the ride already has raised almost $90,000