Support A Crazy Adventure for a Serious Cause

Hi there, I'm Maggie.

That's me up there, with my favorite girl, Gigi (my bike). We've been together for four years this August and we met because of another special lady. That's my Grace.

Grace is the daughter of my best friends on earth, Sarah and Jared. We met in college and have been through a lot together. Including Grace's birth, her cancer diagnosis, and her funeral. My hero only made it to two but has affected my life in more ways than anyone else I've ever met.

About a month after she passed away, I was feeling pretty hopeless and completely helpless in supporting my friends. That's when Instagram hit me with an add to "WIN A BICYCLE" through something called The Great Cycle Challenge (GCC). In 2019, GCC was a fundraiser through the month of June where folks could commit to ride as many miles as they could and raise as much money as they could for pediatric cancer research.

Did you know that out of the $5.2 billion dollars the federal government sets aside for cancer research, only 4% of it goes toward pediatric cancer? And we've gone around 40 years without a major improvement in treatments for the 40,000 kids that get treated for cancer annually.

I read the ad and thought to myself, "Well...all you need is a bicycle. And I have a bicycle." So I made a fundraiser page, dusted out my $100 Walmart bike and set a goal. In the six years I had owned that bike, I had ridden it three times. In June of 2019 I put 200 miles on it and raised over $1,000.

This year marks my fifth year participating in GCC and five years without our amazing little Grace. That's inspiring me to try something...a little crazy. GCC now takes place during the month of September, and my goal this year is to bike the east coast.

You can read it again if it will help your feelings, but I promise you didn't read it wrong.

The East Coast Greenway is a system of greenways and roads that winds from the Canadian border in Maine to the southern most point in the United States at Key West. My goal this year is to leave the Canadian border on September 1st and make it to the North Carolina/South Carolina border on September 30th. For anyone trying to guesstimate that mileage...it's approximately 1,829 miles in 30 days. Along the way I look forward to making opportunities to educate people about pediatric cancer research, sweet Grace, and The Great Cycle Challenge.

While raising funds for GCC and the Children's Cancer Research Fund is the most important aspect of September, this endeavor is going to require some additional money if it's going to happen. That's where you, and this fundraiser come in! I have included a detailed outline of where this money is going below. This will all be used to help me get to and through my fundraising mileage goal. Also, any money raised through this fundraiser that I don't use will be donated to the Children's Cancer Research Fund through GCC.

GCC has been a remarkable journey since that first ride back in June of 2019. So much has changed and yet it still manages to be a life-changing event every year. I am excited to make 2024 the most remarkable journey yet and I would love it if you'd come on this adventure with me. Children should be living their lives...not fighting for them, and I want to be a part of making that a reality for the thousands of families in hospitals across the country and the world. Pedal forward friends. See you out there.

My GCC Fundraising Page

About GCC and the Children's Cancer Research Fund

Childhood Cancer Facts