Fundraising Bartlett bicyclists reach Niagara Falls
"Men With Steeds," a quartet of lifelong Bartlett friends, reached their destination on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls late last week on their 600-mile bicycle journey from Chicago to raise money for Chance the Rapper's youth empowerment charity.
They'd raised $3,691 by Friday afternoon on their YouCaring fundraising page at youcaring.com/socialworkschinewchanceartsandliteraturefund-1078243, but still hope enough people will contribute to their effort to collect $5,000 for the charity SocialWorks.
Austin Hilvert, Tyler Klatt, Will Rajewski and Brenner Wallace all attend different Midwestern colleges and are pursuing a variety of majors, but they grew up united by their appreciation of Chance the Rapper and all he's doing to provide underprivileged youth with exposure to the arts.
They felt they'd acquired a week's worth of memories after only the first day of the journey. By the end, it had truly become a major life event.
"The highlight memories are countless but a few of our favorites include riding through Detroit and eating Coney Island coney dogs at 2 a.m., riding through native towns in Canada and catching glimpses of the northern lights at midnight," Wallace said. "And the joy of the last mile as we entered Niagara knowing that we had made it."