Ambitious enthusiasts often bike across the country just to prove they can withstand a feat of such physical and mental endurance. But few people make the epic journey for charity.
Kathy Kornei, a Yale University student raised in Los Altos, will ride her bike across the country this summer to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity.
She joins forces with 90 other Yale students who will pedal 4,000 miles from their New Haven, Conn., campus to three separate West Coast destinations: San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.
Kornei, 21, is modest and nonchalant about making the journey. “I wanted to try an alternative summer event, and to see another part of the country. I also love the outdoors,” she said.
Before departing on their journey May 27, the riders will each raise $4,000 for the cause by canvassing door-to-door, writing letters and seeking sponsorships in their local communities.
The money goes almost entirely to the building of new homes for low-income families. Corporate sponsorships will cover overhead costs, including bikes and other necessary gear.
Rising with the sun, the bikers will ride about 70 miles per day, stopping for lunch and then covering more ground before arriving in their host town each evening.
The group will build Habitat houses along the way. In traditional Habitat for Humanity fashion, volunteers work together with the families who will live in the homes.
“It’s known as equity – the involving of people in the building of their own homes,” Kornei said.
In the evening, the students make presentations about their cause in a local church or community center.
The event is sponsored by the Habitat for Humanity office in New Haven. Although it is heavily publicized on campus, the bike challenge is not limited to Yale students. Students from all colleges and universities are invited to join the nine-week ride.
“You don’t need to be a professional cyclist,” Kornei said, adding that she trains indoors several times a week on a cycling machine while snow blankets the campus.
Kornei studies astronomy and physics at Yale and hopes to attend graduate school next fall.
Habitat for Humanity is an international non-profit Christian ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing around the world.
Volunteer labor and donations of money help provide affordable housing for low-income families, who assist in the building of their Habitat house.
Partner families also pay the down payment and monthly mortgages for their homes.
To learn more about the spring event or to sponsor Kornei on her journey, visit www.yale.edu/habitat.
