The Saint Mary’s Cycling Club hosted a Halloween Ride Wednesday night to raise money for the College’s ALS 5k, which will be held on Nov. 4. The ride was put on in the form of a class hosted by the club.
Founder and president of the club, senior Megan Hall, said in an email that riders were encouraged to wear red for ALS. She also said the event was set to Halloween music.
Marketing chair, senior Leslie Taubert, said in an email that she hoped having the event on Halloween would promote the fundraiser.
“We thought having [the ride] on Halloween would make it an even more fun ride and it would help encourage people to donate to ride,” she said. “We are excited to help out with [this] important cause and support everyone that is impacted by ALS.”
The full class had 21 riders, and Hall said this class offers greater benefits than just for the rider.
“I often say in class to ride for you and show up for yourself,” Hall said. “However, this cause is something bigger to ride for. We are given two hands, one to help ourselves and one to help others. This is where our ‘other’ hand comes in.”
This desire to encourage people to help others is one of the main reasons Hall decided to organize the event, she said.
“With the help of [Senior] Class Council, we decided to host the event because we wanted to get as many students involved in raising money and awareness to ALS,” Hall said. “[The goal was] to raise money, but also to bring students together to think about something bigger. We often get caught up in the little things. By hosting this event, I hope it gets students to realize to not get caught up in the little things.”
Vice president and senior Abbigail Yucha said in an email that the charity ride is something she hopes the club will continue with in the future.
“We are raising money and awareness for the disease,” Yucha said.
Taubert said she hopes the fun riders have will lead to an increase in fundraising for ALS.
“We are hosting this to help a great cause,” she said. “Our goal is to have as much as fun as we can but also to raise money for an important cause.”
Hall said there are other organizations the club hopes to collaborate with in the future.
“There are many charities we hope to ride for in the future,” she said. “With Dance Marathon being a huge activity on campus, we hope Cycling Club can continue to contribute.”
