Friendship Circle, News

Bike4Friendship: Rabbis Bike Cross-Country For Children with Special Needs

Dani Saul is one of three Rabbis biking accross the United States in support of Friendship Circle and Children with special needs. In this post he tells the story of Bike4Friendship. As a child I always wondered who decides what is considered “news worthy.” For a while I thought that politicians and corporations would pay news anchors to cover their story. Maybe it's true, who knows. Now, thanks to Facebook, Twitter and blogs such as this, pretty much anyone can decide what news is “worthy” of passing on (If it’s picked up by others is another question, but let’s not get carried away with the details.) Having been written up by close to 30 news outlets across the country (and one in Israel), I think we can assume that our story is considered “news worthy” right about now. So I’m going to share it and hope you agree with me. We’re three 22 year olds who just became Rabbis. Pretty cool story, no? Just kidding. Sitting in Jerusalem and thinking about graduating Rabbinical school we started thinking of "The Real World" and the realities we'd be faced with, both good and bad. That's when we got the idea to bike across the country (the U.S. that is) and make a difference. We wanted to ride with a message and a mission.  Problem was, we weren't bikers and Rabbis don't usually hop on a bike and pedal clear across America. So we started looking for the right message. We realized that like Rabbis, who many people have preconceived notions about, children with special needs, the focus of Friendship Circle, also have lots to share but often aren't given the chance. We had found our mission and a great organization to support! We'd join the thousands of teenagers who've committed themselves to making a difference in the lives of their special friends. Even more, we'd become liaisons to the country and share their stories and accomplishments with the people we'd meet along the way. So we started training: biking, biking and more biking. Then we called the Friendship Circle and told them about our idea, and Bike 4 Friendship was born. Now halfway through our trip, we’ve told the Friendship Circle story to thousands across the country. We've spoken to communities throughout the east coast about being more sensitive to people with special needs. We’ve met the only Jew in a small Virginia town. We've been inspired by “Callie’s Alley” a restaurant in Georgia with the best staff you'll ever meet, young adults with special needs! We've witnessed the devastation left by the the tornado in Alabama. We "Bar Mitzva’d" a 50 year old man in Mississippi! And, we've visited over 10 Friendship Circle branches and were inspired by the most amazing children! Now that we’ve already biked from NY to Texas, it’s safe to assume that we will make it to our final destination on the Pacific Ocean, and we'd like to thank our sponsors who believed in us, and all those individuals who have supported us by sponsoring miles of our trek for $4/mile. If you haven't had a chance to sponsor a mile yet, it's not too late. Click Here to help us reach our goal to raise $4/mile, and ask your friends to do the same! P.S. You can even read about the stories we mentioned and browse through the photo gallery by visiting our Blog and Photo Gallery.