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A large convoy of bicyclists cruised through Fort Dodge and parts of Webster County last weekend. Everyone in the group looked like they were having fun. And while doing so, they made a contribution to the future of their community.
The bicycle jaunt was the Prairie Rivers Trail Ride, an annual event in which cyclist pedal in honor of someone and raise money for a cause dear to that person.
This year, the ride was in honor of the late Joan Meyer, an avid cyclist and leader of a RAGBRAI team. All the money generated by the ride was despised ina fund managed by the Fort Dodge Community Foundation that will pay for trail upkeep and potential trail expansions.
Previous rides have helped to fund diverse needs.
For example, a past ride raised $12,000 to pay for a physical therapy room at the Norma Schmoker Cancer Center at UnityPoint Health – trinity regional medical Center.
Physical therapy seems like something someone would need after a bad fall or a car wreck, but not as part of cancer treatment.
It is, however, something cancer patients need. The disease is brutal. The treatments are no picnic, either. Cancer patients need to build up their strength after enduring all of that.
.A $12,000 donation is pretty impressive. But that is only a portion of the money the trail ride has generated over the last seven years.
Since the first ride in 2019, a total of about $70,000 has been donated to various organizations.
That first ride evolved from a tragedy two years prior. Josh Doyle, of Fort Dodge, suddenly died at age 29 of a rare heart condition called an aortic dissection. Friends who wanted to do something to honor his memory planned a bicycle ride with the goal of raising money to buy automatic external defibrillators. That first ride generated about $7,000, enabling the purchase of seven automatic external defibrillators.
The 2020 ride was held in memory of the Rev. Al Henderson. It raised $8,000 which was donated to Serving Our Servants. That is an organization Henderson established to support local fire and police departments.
The 2021 ride was in memory of Steve Springer, It raised $13,000 for Fort Dodge Community School District athletics.
Another ride was in memory of Tim Flaherty. It generated $10,000, which his family asked to be donated to the Beacon of Hope and The Lotus Community Project.
The core group of trail ride organizers will be thinking about next year’s version soon.
That group continues to prove that there are people in Fort Dodge always trying to make things better in their community.