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Hi there! First of all, thanks for checking out our ride and what we're doing. What are we doing? Great question!
For those of you who know Matt - you know that he has personally made several cross country cycling trips! He also started a nonprofit, The Young Philanthropists. The Young Philanthropists runs curriculum and service based adventures in pursuit of making traveling the world accessible to everyone. Needless to say, when Jill met Matt in 2017, and then later started dating - she knew it was only a matter of time before they were to take off on their own cycling adventure. Well, that day has arrived and on the week of September 27th, these two will set off to complete the 350 mile trip from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, D.C. However, the two of them decided that they wanted to give their ride purpose, and have chosen to use this as an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for two of their hometowns' local organizations in the pursuit of raising awareness, prevention, and treatment for suicide, substance use, and addiction.
So who are the organizations we are working with?
Matt grew up in Akron, Ohio and Jill worked at Firestone Country Club while completing her master's degree in clinical counseling, which is also where they met! While there, they became aware of Fighting for Alyssa. Fighting for Alyssa is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization founded in 2015 by Lea Heidman and Brian Malone after the sudden passing of their daughter Alyssa due to a heroin overdose. At the time of her death on March 18, 2015, Alyssa had just turned 21 years old. Alyssa’s presence lives on, however, in FFA in which she guides other individuals to empower themselves against addiction. At the time of her passing, Alyssa was a college student with an interest in one day becoming a substance abuse counselor. She was very gifted in writing, drawing, photography, and was an avid connoisseur of all types of music. In order to honor Alyssa’s talents, FFA attempts, among other initiatives, to fund programs through local agencies to assist individuals in fostering those skills to combat addictive behaviors. Their purpose is to raise funds through various annual events and distribute those funds to local agencies in and beyond Northeast Ohio which will assist in promoting education, awareness, and treatment of substance use disorder in our local communities. Your contributions and support help FFA fund programs to fight this epidemic in our local communities. Their committee decided to use the phrase, #lovespeaks, to encourage everyone to love themselves to stay sober; to love someone enough to speak out for them to seek help; and to give a voice to those who can no longer speak. This is an organization truly helping a community and making a difference.
Jillian grew up in Clarion county and when looking for a local organization, she was put into contact with Clarion County Coalition for Suicide Prevention. This organization is also a nonprofit 501(c)3. Their focus is suicide prevention, awareness and education. They provide help and hope through college, campus, and high school events, suicide crisis hotlines and other educational programs. Depression is treatable. Suicide is preventable. Join and support our Clarion County suicide prevention efforts today. Together, we can find hope!
Matt and Jillian both have lost dear friends, whether it be to their fight with addiction or by suicide. They are riding for each of them, and riding for someone who they may not know as well. They Ride for Someone. This is an area that they both deeply value and hope to continue bringing awareness and education towards. They are excited for the conversations that this will open, the resources that it will lead to, and the connections that it will create. Please consider donating to these incredibly important organizations if you are able, sharing the message if you can, or just having a conversation with us as well. We will be honored to share in this journey together! Thank you for taking the time to read about our ride, and we can't wait to update you as we go!
Once we begin, you can follow along on Instagram as well, @mattandjilly. Thanks again!
*All donations are tax deductible under code 501(c)3. Tax deductible receipts are available upon request.*
For those of you who know Matt - you know that he has personally made several cross country cycling trips! He also started a nonprofit, The Young Philanthropists. The Young Philanthropists runs curriculum and service based adventures in pursuit of making traveling the world accessible to everyone. Needless to say, when Jill met Matt in 2017, and then later started dating - she knew it was only a matter of time before they were to take off on their own cycling adventure. Well, that day has arrived and on the week of September 27th, these two will set off to complete the 350 mile trip from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, D.C. However, the two of them decided that they wanted to give their ride purpose, and have chosen to use this as an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for two of their hometowns' local organizations in the pursuit of raising awareness, prevention, and treatment for suicide, substance use, and addiction.
So who are the organizations we are working with?
Matt grew up in Akron, Ohio and Jill worked at Firestone Country Club while completing her master's degree in clinical counseling, which is also where they met! While there, they became aware of Fighting for Alyssa. Fighting for Alyssa is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization founded in 2015 by Lea Heidman and Brian Malone after the sudden passing of their daughter Alyssa due to a heroin overdose. At the time of her death on March 18, 2015, Alyssa had just turned 21 years old. Alyssa’s presence lives on, however, in FFA in which she guides other individuals to empower themselves against addiction. At the time of her passing, Alyssa was a college student with an interest in one day becoming a substance abuse counselor. She was very gifted in writing, drawing, photography, and was an avid connoisseur of all types of music. In order to honor Alyssa’s talents, FFA attempts, among other initiatives, to fund programs through local agencies to assist individuals in fostering those skills to combat addictive behaviors. Their purpose is to raise funds through various annual events and distribute those funds to local agencies in and beyond Northeast Ohio which will assist in promoting education, awareness, and treatment of substance use disorder in our local communities. Your contributions and support help FFA fund programs to fight this epidemic in our local communities. Their committee decided to use the phrase, #lovespeaks, to encourage everyone to love themselves to stay sober; to love someone enough to speak out for them to seek help; and to give a voice to those who can no longer speak. This is an organization truly helping a community and making a difference.
Jillian grew up in Clarion county and when looking for a local organization, she was put into contact with Clarion County Coalition for Suicide Prevention. This organization is also a nonprofit 501(c)3. Their focus is suicide prevention, awareness and education. They provide help and hope through college, campus, and high school events, suicide crisis hotlines and other educational programs. Depression is treatable. Suicide is preventable. Join and support our Clarion County suicide prevention efforts today. Together, we can find hope!
Matt and Jillian both have lost dear friends, whether it be to their fight with addiction or by suicide. They are riding for each of them, and riding for someone who they may not know as well. They Ride for Someone. This is an area that they both deeply value and hope to continue bringing awareness and education towards. They are excited for the conversations that this will open, the resources that it will lead to, and the connections that it will create. Please consider donating to these incredibly important organizations if you are able, sharing the message if you can, or just having a conversation with us as well. We will be honored to share in this journey together! Thank you for taking the time to read about our ride, and we can't wait to update you as we go!
Once we begin, you can follow along on Instagram as well, @mattandjilly. Thanks again!
*All donations are tax deductible under code 501(c)3. Tax deductible receipts are available upon request.*
