Dartmouth students can frequently be seen biking around Hanover, but a few will widen their horizons this summer and pedal all the way to Vancouver as part of Bike and Build, a group that organizes cross-country biking trips to benefit Habitat for Humanity projects.
So far, eight Dartmouth students have signed up to make the trek, and Bike and Build founder Marc Bush expects up to 30 people to participate. The trip could raise as much as $50,000 to fund a second Dartmouth student-built Habitat for Humanity home.
"Our primary purpose is to act as a fundraiser," Bush said. "Habitat has the time, energy and manpower but not the money."
Dartmouth's Habitat for Humanity chapter works with the local Habitat affiliate to build houses for poverty-stricken families, and is currently nearing the completion of their first student-built home in Enfield, NH. Project chair Ben Bollinger '04 is excited about the opportunities Bike and Build will present.
"We think that it is a great fundraiser," Bollinger said. "It is a great opportunity to get out and spread the word about Habitat."
Participants will set out from Hanover on June 16 and travel through 11 states before finally arriving in Vancouver on Aug. 16. They will sleep in churches, schools and other community centers along the way, meeting with townspeople and stopping to work on Habitat for Humanity build sites along the route.
Bike and Build will provide all necessities for participants, including meals, accommodations, an air mattress and a bicycle.
"It is a good way to get people interested in service," Bush said. "We will get people who want to go out and have a good time this summer, a lot of bikers and outdoor enthusiasts."
Ashley Medin '03 signed up for the trip because the idea of biking across the country appealed to her. Although she has participated in other bike fundraising events, she has never worked with Habitat.
Medin said that she hopes the trip can be a "last hurrah" after college -- "have fun now, get serious later," Medin said.
Tucker Foundation volunteer coordinator Anne Sosin hopes the trip can take advantage of a new source of fundraising for Habitat.
"Fundraising for Dartmouth Habitat can be really challenging, but Bike and Build taps a different set of people," Sosin said. "They will be interacting with alumni groups in other places."
Bush founded Bike and Build after working with a similar program while at Yale in 2001. Students there had been biking across the country since 1993 to finance a Yale-built habitat house.
"When I was a senior at Yale, I helped put the trip together for summer 2001," Bush said. "I realized it could work at other schools, and I decided to found Bike and Build."
This year, three Bike and Build trips are planned -- a Northern United States trip, which Dartmouth students are participating in, a Central trip, and a Trans-Canada trip.
