Two Texan brothers are on a charity bike ride that will take them from Anchorage Alaska to College Station Texas.
Raleigh and Bobby Jenkins made a stop in Williams Lake yesterday (July 16) to talk with Vista Radio about this 5500 mile journey.
“I’m riding for one charity and Raleigh is riding the other,” Bobby said, “the one I’m riding for is the Moss Pieratt Foundation which is named after my first grandchild who died 11 years ago from what’s called “Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood or SUDC. A lot of people say that’s CID’s and it’s not, this is for toddlers and really is unexplained. So I’m doing this bike ride at 66-years-old to raise awareness and money for research at NYU in New York City.”
Bobby said 4 to 6 hundred children die this way, Moss was perfectly healthy, he was 15 months old, went down for a nap and simply never woke up.
“So my mission in life is to find out what is the unexplained part and can we someday prevent it so other parents and families don’t have to experience the unfathomable loss of a sweet child without knowing what happened so I’m on a mission to find answers.”
Raleigh said he was riding for Mission Lazarus.
“In 2010 I was the President of the United States Pest Control Association and was told Hiati needed our help after they had an earthquake that killed over 300,000 people. There were 2 children playing by a hospital that we were working at and when I asked where that child was going tonight, the Hospital Administer said he lives on the street and he’s going to dig through the garbage and try to survive and live for another day. So we decided to build an orphanage. Mission Lazarus helps develop careers for adults and children, helps schools, and also does orphanages and that’s why I ride.”
The brothers will cross into the United States from Sumas cutting South of Tacoma going down the Pacific coast Highway and somewhere around San Francisco or Los Angeles go East through Northern Arizona, New Mexico, coming into Texas.
“We did take some time a couple of days off to fly back to Texas last week with the flooding that took place right by my home.” Bobby said, “My 2 granddaughters were at that camp and were airlifted out that camp, they made it home and safe, but I did have a niece that didn’t make it. She was one of the 27 campers that died at Camp Mystic so we went back for the funeral. That’s been very heavy on our mind
it’s going to be a big part of what this trip was ultimately so that sorrow is with us and all the lives lost yet we have a mission to do. We came back, got bike on the bikes and here we are working our way to get to September sixth.”
Raleigh noted that people along the way have been very sympathetic and supportive of that horrible, horrible tragedy.
Something going on in the Cariboo you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
