Bike-a-thon looks to raise funds for fight against HIV/AIDS

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Posted February 4, 2010

By Kyle Glennie

Teams peddling to earn pledges at last year's bike-a-thon eventA fitness focused charity event, organized by a group of Faculty of Medicine students, is hoping to raise money and empower students to take action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  The Race for Dignity–a 12-hour bike-a-thon–is being held by the Dignitas Youth University of Calgary (DYUC) group consisting of Faculty of Medicine students.  The event will feature teams of students, staff and faculty, as well people from the community, riding a stationary bike for 12 straight hours.

“The bike-a-thon is set for Friday, February 12 in the HRIC Atrium, and it starts at 7:00am,” explains Janeve Everett, a second year medical student and vice-president of DYUC.   “We’re also going to have a bake sale and t-shirt sale at the event, and we’ll be accepting donations as well.”

The DYUC is a chapter of Dignitas International, which provides medical services, life saving medications and HIV prevention knowledge primarily to people in Malawi, Africa.  Last year’s bike-a-thon raised over $10,000 for Dignitas International, a number the students hope to improve on.

“We’re hoping for some corporate sponsorship this year which could really help increase the amount raised,” says Brittany Dingley, vice president of fundraising for DYUC.  “All of the riders who’ve signed up already have been working hard collecting pledges, so we’re really trying to top last year’s total.”

The teams will be riding bicycles attached to a device called a trainer, which allows teams to use actual road bicycles instead of stationary bikes.  All of the trainers to be used in the bike-a-thon have been donated by the University of Calgary Triathlon Club.

Teams and individuals are still welcome to sign up for the Race for Dignity.  To register, make a donation or make a pledge for a participant already signed up, go to http://bit.ly/dignitascalgary. If you are interested in baking something for the bake sale, please email Lucas Badenduck at labadend@ucalgary.ca.